The Russian art market is captured Vienna Fair

[Artem]

The newspaper "Kommersant", № 15 (4800), 01/28/2012

The Russian art market is captured Vienna Fair

Deal contemporary art

Contemporary Art Fair Viennafair got new partners from Russia: 70%of the fair management company acquired by Sergei Skaterschikovym, the founder of Skate's Art Market Research (engaged in the research of the art market), and Dmitry Aksenov, chairman of the board of directors of RDI Group. The details - Tatiana Markina.

Viennafair - the first international fair, the owners of which are Russians. The only serious international transaction of this kind was the acquisition of a controlling stake in auction house Phillips de Pury Russian by Mercury in 2008.

By itself, Viennafair - not fair of the first magnitude, are also very young. She first took place in Vienna in 2005 and initially focused on contemporary art in Europe. Gradually, the number of participants has increased from 45 to 127 galleries in the past year, and the fair had the opportunity to go international. However, in the crisis years 2009 and 2010 cases in Viennafair, apparently, were not very good - as, indeed, and any fair dealing in contemporary art. Previously Viennafair held in May, but this year it replaced in September - May, was occupied by two subsidiaries of the largest projects of contemporary art fairs: London Frieze will be carried out in early May, a new project in New York, and Art-Basel spawned a new clone in Hong Kong .

Sergei Skaterschikov, financier and investor, is known in the Russian art market since 2004, when he created an analytical and consulting firm Skate's Art Market Research, and then wrote the first guide to investing in art. According to Mr. Skaterschikova in the transaction of his most underrated potential has attracted fair. "Vienna is the largest fair in Central and Eastern Europe, but it lags far behind the leading trade fairs in the global art calendar in terms of sales. Here we see significant opportunity in restructuring the business fair" - he said "b". Interfere with the artistic policy of the fair's new owners are not going to - Art Director, Fair retain their positions changed only CEO Viennafair. The amount of the transaction were not disclosed, Mr. Skaterschikov said only that it was two or three annual income the fair. The remaining 30%Viennafair retained the former owners - a pool of Austrian collectors and art critics.