Kristina Krasnyanskaya: “Good taste is the ability to choose.” Kristina Krasnyanskaya: “Good taste is the ability to choose” Kristina, tell me, how did your gallery design collection begin? It's always interesting

From February 21 to April 30 in the Moscow gallery "Heritage" there will be an exhibition “Post-constructivism, or the Birth of Soviet Art Deco: Paris - New York - Moscow”, drawing parallels and looking for intersections and influences in art, architecture and design in Russia, America and France in the 1920s and 30s. With this exhibition the gallery celebrates its 10th anniversary, on the eve of which its founder Kristina Krasnyanskaya spoke to ARTANDHOUSES about the differences between collectors and investors, the belief in word of mouth and the benefits of art consultants.

In recent years, you have done several museum projects in Russia, but news about the gallery’s work mainly came from abroad - about participation in. Why?

There was a period when there were a lot of projects - I took on everything, and it was important for me that active exhibition activities were constantly carried out. This is less relevant now for several reasons. Over time, quantity nevertheless develops into quality, and you no longer grab onto everything. We do quite complex projects that require quite a long preparation, in particular, with the collection of material. Therefore, doing a lot of them and often simply doesn’t work out, and I’m not interested in doing something simple.

It so happened that the gallery’s activities from a focus on Russian artists abroad - although I would like to emphasize that we do not forget this direction and include works in exhibitions - smoothly flowed onto the topic of Soviet design. But recent exhibitions are nevertheless much broader: they include not only design, but also painting, graphics, and architecture. I like that they are rich and eclectic, and I see that this exhibition trend is supported by others. Because when you have this kind of exhibition, you can see not only something taken out of context, but the whole context at once.

That is why, following trends, you began to work with contemporary artists?

Of course, the right gallery must have a specific focus, but even though we concentrate on the first half of the 20th century, I am happy to support contemporary artists. I even help some with promotion in the West: the year before last I supervised the project of sculptor Alexei Morozov at the Archaeological Museum of Naples. And last year she co-curated Oksana Mas’s exhibition at the MAGA Museum near Milan, where her works were included in the exhibition of arte povera masters - Fontana, Castellani and others. By the way, the patrons of this museum are the Missoni family, and I now have an idea to make an exhibition about their fashion house in Moscow.

William Klein
"Tatiana, Mary Rose and Camels, Picnic, Morocco"
1958

Your gallery is ten years old. Do you think this is a lot or a little for a gallery in Russia?

Considering market and political conditions, it seems to me that this is decent. In the global context, of course, it is not enough, but for our Russian context it is enough. Especially remembering that during this time we have experienced several crises.

How did your gallery survive the crises?

The first one is very easy. It rather affected international auction houses, because the crisis was truly global, and people did not want to give things for public sale. The second is more difficult, since it was connected with our collectors, with our political and economic events. Therefore, a kind of rotation took place: people who actively bought art a lot, for one reason or another, stop buying, but new buyers appear. Our business is structured in such a way that the gallery must be a flexible organism and adapt to circumstances. I have always been interested in maintaining a balance between the commercial and curatorial aspects.

I remember a few years ago you complained about the lack of an art director in the gallery. Have you found it or are you continuing to do everything yourself?

Unfortunately, I continue to be one myself, although I regularly think about such a person appearing.

Returning to the past... You have an education in economics and art history. Did you purposefully study to become an art historian in order to later open a gallery?

Yes. Then I already worked in one private closed gallery with my friends. She specialized in classical painting, and with my arrival they began to engage in contemporary art. It was a great time! Such a field for maneuver, where I could study how the gallery and this business in general works from the inside. At some point, circumstances even developed there that I had to actively engage in sales and manage the financial affairs of the gallery. So it was such a good school.

Ib Kofod Larsen, easy chair, 1950 / Borge Mogensen, sofa, 1962

Why did you also decide to initially create a closed gallery?

I just don’t believe that we have collectors walking down the street and looking into the windows. It seems to me that in our country the topic of collecting is still closed, and what works best here is “word of mouth”, an established authority among collectors when they come back to you and recommend you. This is probably the best advertisement.

That is, our gallery owners themselves continue to maintain the aura of elitism in collecting and create some kind of magic around?

I believe that collecting is magic. And I always say that the collectors club is a closed club and, in fact, the lot of the elite. Because it is not enough to have a lot of money and the opportunity to buy expensive objects of art, it is not even enough to just read books, go to exhibitions and fairs, or receive some kind of special education. After all, understand that not all people are ready and not everyone is infected by this spirit of gathering. Even those who buy something do not necessarily become collectors. Real collectors are very complex people. And, to be honest, in some ways even obsessed. They live it and perceive art in a completely different way. Because art is a conditional category. It is not among the basic necessities, not even among luxury goods, such as a luxury car, large diamonds, a yacht or a house on the Cote d'Azur. This is something you need to feel with your heart, something you need to have an “eye” and taste for. Yes, you can, while visiting exhibitions, remember names and popular trends, but not everyone is interested in understanding art and collecting, and deeply studying its subtleties. And not everyone is capable of this. Therefore, a club of these people, infected with the “bacillus” of collecting, who like to wallow in it, who are jealous of each other’s purchases and keep an eye on things for years, who like to give their works to museums so that they “live” some kind of life of their own and collect provenance, closed. To enter it, it is not enough just to have money. Moreover, there are well-known collections where people did not buy works for exorbitant amounts of money, they simply had good instincts and knowledge, and good consultants.

You have just described the figure of probably the canonical passionate collector. It turns out that you don’t consider those who collect for investment purposes to be collectors?

I always say: there are buyers, and there are collectors. Buyers are those who buy art for the home, for a gift, sometimes under the influence of emotions, which especially often happens at fairs. And there are collectors, another category, not at all mythological. In our country, for example, there are ten such people.

Those who buy for investment purposes are simply investors. Of course, there is a lot of money in art and many people want to invest in it in order to later receive extra income. But to do this, you either need to know this market very well, follow it no less than the stock market, or have an experienced consultant nearby. Better yet, one and the other at once. Well, in general, I believe that there are more profitable and less risky types of business than investing in art.

Once upon a time, Matthew Stevenson, then the head of the Russian branch of Christie’s, and I gave a lecture on how to collect so that art was always liquid. There were five basic principles.

Can you voice them?

The first is the name. We are not talking now about investments in emerging art(young art), but we are talking about the fact that a person would like to invest his money and, if not increase it, then at least save it. This should be the first row of names.

The second is the period. Because any artist has a heyday, and there are less interesting ones - the beginning, when he has not yet formed, the decline of creativity. It is important to understand that you are buying the best period of this author.

Third is the plot. There must be a recognizable plot that characterizes this artist, and the work must have all his, so to speak, tricks. If you have a Picasso work in front of you and you don't recognize that it is his hand, there is no need to buy from an investment point of view.

The fourth is a very interesting parameter. There is such a concept: wallpower. This means that the work must be spectacular. Even, for example, if it is a painting from the late Magritte, not the best period, but if it is spectacular, it can be well realized in the future.

And the last point is the state of work and provenance. Here you need to look at the safety of the work, whether restorers intervened or not. And its origin: who it belonged to, where it was exhibited or from which reputable gallery it was purchased.

If you follow these simple rules, then, it seems to me, the success of your investment is guaranteed.

David Dubois
"Strap table"
2014

Why then will art consultants be needed?

Well, it’s not so easy to use these rules (laughs). You need to spend a huge amount of time studying the issues, and for each artist separately. And in order to gain the required amount of information, you probably need to completely disconnect from your main business.

How did the name of your gallery come about?

It’s very simple: I wanted to give a name so that, on the one hand, it would be international, and on the other, it would carry meaning. And the word “heritage” seemed universal, as they say, with good karma.

You started with Russian artists abroad, now you have gone into Soviet design - all our heritage, yes. Why did they start bringing things from foreign designers here?

Even when I started, I realized that in our country the niche called “collectible design” had not been filled at all. And many years ago I made an exhibition of only Western things of this kind. She showed there the best textbook objects, both antique and through the entire 20th century to modern designers Martin Bas and Fabio Novembre. I was interested to see people’s reactions, but then few were ready for this. Today, fortunately, several people are already doing such things.

We, especially at this exhibition for the gallery’s anniversary, are focused on Soviet design in a broad international context - we are trying to show how America and France influenced the USSR, what came to us from there and what is authentic in Soviet design.

You actively show Soviet design in the West. How are local collectors reacting?

Western museums are very interested, and I am holding a number of negotiations about displaying it. And collectors like it, but behave warily - there is very little literature about this abroad. Although, in addition to Russian buyers, we now have clients from Germany and Switzerland, one Frenchman with Russian roots, and, I hope, some from Italy.

The return of the lost cultural heritage of Russia is the main direction in the work of the Heritage gallery. Since 2011, the gallery has been building a collection of original Western and Soviet design. In 2012 and 2011, she became the first and only Russian gallery invited to participate in Design Miami / Basel. February exhibition at the Museum of Architecture “Soviet Design. From constructivism to modernism 1920 - 1960" is the fruit of a grandiose curatorial work. For the first time in history, the exhibition fully presents to the audience not just Soviet design, but antique objects of museum quality.

Kristina Krasnyanskaya, art critic, collector, owner and art director of the international art gallery “Heritage”, curator of the exhibition project “Soviet Design. From constructivism to modernism 1920 - 1960s".

Christina, please tell our readers about the curatorial concept. What is the main concept of the project?

In the five enfilade halls of the museum, a total of about two hundred interior items are presented, including furniture, plastic, dishes, fabrics, etc. With a conceptual curatorial decision, we divided the exhibition into styles and directions: five halls - five eras - five styles. When we initially started working on the project, I was faced with the fact that, in principle, in the West, except for the Russian avant-garde and Soviet constructivism, no one knows anything about Soviet design. However, the same thing, alas, is largely happening here. Unfortunately, this is how our mentality is structured; when we changed, as they say, milestones, everything was destroyed, all the material monuments of the previous era. Little remains of the legacy called Soviet design. Architecture was luckier. Over the four years that I was working on the project, completely unexpectedly for myself, I discovered a whole layer of styles, eras, and trends. Some existed in parallel. Some replaced each other. Our exhibition has an absolute historical and cultural emphasis.

Where does the exhibition begin?

The exhibition begins with a hall dedicated to constructivism. Here are rare examples of furniture designed by Boris Iofan for his famous “House on the Embankment” (1927-1931), in which the architect completely designed all the interiors. Propaganda furniture (1930s) is also presented here, for example, a set designed by architect Igor Krestovsky for the Smolensk communal house “Bread of Communism”. Naturally, all styles and trends are related to the processes taking place in the state. As they say, you can’t remove the words from the song. The arrival of a new personality, a change of course, has always influenced everyday life, architecture, and design. Now propaganda furniture has become a rarity and several authentic items from the House of the Commune are on display - a great success! The items presented in the project come not only from our gallery collection, but from private and museum collections, including the Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts, and the Museum of Architecture. In MUARE, we, as they say, carried out reconnaissance in force and found very interesting things, like photographs.

Sofa from the furniture set "Bread of Communism". Igor Krestovsky and Artel "Leninets" - 1937

Second hall?

The second hall is dedicated to Soviet Art Deco. The Art Deco style, its Soviet version, has its roots in constructivism. There are excellent examples here, for example, furniture made in the 1930s according to the design of Nikolai Lanceray for the Museum of V.I. Lenin in
Leningrad, located in the Marble Palace. What is especially interesting is that Lanceray designed this furniture set while sitting in the Gulag, in the “sharashka”, in the “Special Design and Technical Bureau”. This room also displays magnificent examples of Soviet propaganda Wedgwood, which is very interesting.

Third room?

The third room has stunning 30s design pieces, such as a refrigerator. Today it is difficult to understand that this is a refrigerator. This refrigerator, by the way, even has an inscription that it was presented to a certain security officer Morozov. In the same room, drawings by Stalin’s favorite architect-designer Boris Smirnov are also presented.

The fourth hall?

In this room there is a Soviet Empire style. Here the things of Karen Alabyan, the creator of the Red Army Theater, appear in all their glory. The furniture of the Stalinist Empire style is also shown in unique pieces: a transformable chair and a radio, which were made by order of the Leningrad Kirov Opera and Ballet Theater (Mariinsky Theater) as a gift to Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin. Things are different, interesting, all accompanied by graphics and photographs.

Radiola. 1940

And the last, fifth hall?

The last room is dedicated to the increasingly popular, now fashionable Soviet modernism and functionalism of the 1960s. The main theme here is space. This is the time of laconic, functional furniture that was supposed to be built into Khrushchev buildings. Soviet modernism, represented by the works of designers of the 1950-1960s
years, continued the traditions of the avant-garde. An example is the furniture drawings of Yuri Sluchevsky, with his original modular system that regulates the height and width of the structure, focused on human growth.
Having worked closely with the Strogonov Academy, with Yuri Sluchevsky, who in the late 1950s had an experimental production in Strogonovka, we clearly saw how during the Thaw period designers were inspired by the avant-garde of the 10-20s. There was certainly continuity! That's the concept.

Shelving unit (1960s, oak, 125x90x24 cm, from a range of furniture made specifically for a model apartment in the Cheryomushki district of Moscow)

What else can be said about the exhibition, including its design?

The exhibition is united by a single artistic solution. On the floor we placed suprematist figures made of carpet, which link all five rooms into a common composition. The exhibition focuses, of course, on furniture, although there is also Palekh, porcelain, glass, and propaganda textiles. But the main character, of course, is the furniture. We present unique, collectible items that are extremely difficult to find these days. This is designer furniture. This is a great rarity, with provenance, with history. To make it more comfortable for viewers to watch the exhibition, we have published a guide.

How useful is the exhibition for professionals?

It is very useful for designers, architects, and decorators. It destroys a white spot in the history of Russian design. The exhibition is a real source of inspiration, understanding the base... I must say that our customers are finally no longer afraid of old things in the interior. And the exhibition once again contributes to this. The lively interior is an eclectic interior, where chairs from different eras sit alongside contemporary art and an antique chest of drawers. If I specialized in interiors, like a decorator, I would create just such interiors, with a special emphasis on Soviet design.

Nikolai Lansere. Armchair. 1932

Christina, tell me, how did your gallery design collection begin? It's always interesting.

I must say that we have already collected a collection for a small but high-quality museum; we have been collecting it for four years! It all started very funny, with Iofan. When we were doing a project dedicated to the avant-garde and post-avant-garde for Basel, we came across Iofanov’s chair. An American woman came to our stand and started jumping on it terribly. My heart sank, we fenced off the chair and hung a sign: don’t sit down! Do not touch! not for sale! This is how our collection began. Everything turned out very conceptual. A chair is architecture!

Armchair (

The exhibition takes place at the State Museum of Architecture named after A.V. Shchuseva. (Enfilade of the main building) until March 22.

Photo: ANTON ZEMLYANY Style: KATYA KLIMOVA

It’s easy to savor victory at the finish line; it’s much more difficult to be the first to start the race. But difficulties never bothered Kristina Krasnyanskaya. We met with the founder of Heritage, who recently celebrated the tenth anniversary of her gallery and has long proven to the whole world that there was design in the USSR.

“Design in the Soviet Union? Are you kidding?" — the owner of the Heritage gallery remembered the surprised exclamation of the founder and curator of Design Miami / Basel Craig Robins for the rest of her life. Six years ago, when she decided to show Soviet design in Basel, other questions arose, boiling down to the notorious: “Why do you need this?” But Christina always knew why. In general, she is one of those people who first takes on the hardware, and only then rushes headlong into the pool, so even a skeptic could not explain this success story by pure luck. “I had no idea how they would react to us,” recalls the gallery owner. “I remember we brought a one and a half meter sculpture of passionately kissing Russian and European workers under a red banner with the inscription: “Workers of all countries, unite!” They asked me: “What is this, contemporary art?” No, I say, not contemporary - ’37.” Krasnyanskaya is sure that then, during the preparation of the debut Basel project, nothing would have happened without the help of Yuri Vasilyevich Sluchevsky: Professor Stroganov and creator of the first cabinet furniture in the USSR became her faithful assistant and consultant. “We realized that we had almost no avant-garde objects left. But there is constructivism, which, in essence, is the late avant-garde. The idea of a dialogue between constructivism and the aesthetics of the 60s arose - a period when designers and architects turned to the same avant-garde and Bauhaus.” The plan not only worked, but fired with deafening force - and the gallery owner returned to Russia with laudatory reviews from The Guardian, Wallpaper and The Daily Telegraph, which unanimously called the fate of Heritage almost the main event of the fair. “If they told me that it would happen THIS way, I would never have believed it,” the interlocutor smiles. “We became pioneers: we moved with our eyes closed in the dark.”

Christina handles the role of a pioneer deftly. It all started with artists from Russian diaspora. “Of course, we did not discover America, forgive the pun. Before us there were the galleries “Our Artists”, “Elysium”, “Watercolor”. In 1995, the Tretyakov Gallery hosted an important exhibition “They took Russia with them” - paintings, graphics and archival materials collected by the French professor René Guerra. A whole layer of names rose up: Isaev, Pozhedaev, Polyakov, de Stael. But it’s one thing to have an exhibition in a museum, and quite another to have a private gallery that needs to make money. Today, collectors are hunting for the paintings of emigrant artists, but then few people knew them. They knew Chagall, Kandinsky, Jawlensky, Goncharova and Larionov. But as soon as you took a step to the side, there were all white spots. So we had many tasks, and the main one among them was educational: to explain who all these people are and why their work is the right investment. And so we opened the exhibition of Andrei Mikhailovich Lansky. Small, but very voluminous: early works, mosaics, collages, lyrical abstraction. The reaction was simply wow! This is one of my favorite projects: firstly, it is a debut, and secondly, it is very indicative - we have come up with a lot of such syncretic exhibitions over ten years.”

By the way, about the tenth anniversary: it was celebrated at Heritage with a dinner performed by Vladimir Mukhin and an exhibition dedicated to Soviet Art Deco. “Curator Sasha Selivanova and I chose a tiny time period - from 1932 to 1937,” explains the gallery owner. “We decided to show a quasi-style: no longer avant-garde, but not yet empire.” Preparations for June Basel are also in full swing. Krasnyanskaya will be lucky with propaganda art of the 20s and 30s: furniture, porcelain, carpets, glass. There are also plans to produce replicas of Soviet furniture and projects with famous art institutions. “I want to collaborate with the Prada Foundation,” she says dreamily. It sounds loud, but nothing is impossible for Christina. Norman Foster admires its exhibits, and the best Moscow museums trust Heritage with their collections. She curates an exhibition at Milan's Museo MAGA and helps our artists become stars on the international stage. Even outside of work, this fragile girl manages so much that you begin to suspect her of teleportation: today she is studying Kabakov’s retrospective in London, tomorrow she is applauding Currentzis in Moscow. I just want to ask the hellish banality: “Do you at least sometimes rest? You need to free your head!” “Of course it is necessary,” she says. “That’s what airplanes are for.” The other day I was re-reading “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” And guess what? The book perfectly paralleled our recent project on the topic of the Spanish Civil War. Oh, I think I’m talking about work again, right?”

On March 31, its work, dedicated to the eighth anniversary of the Heritage Gallery, ends. Today this gallery is the only one in Russia that deals with collectible Western and Soviet design.

The owner of "Heritage" Kristina Krasnyanskaya told the editor-in-chief of "365" Yana Kharina what the phenomenon of Soviet modernism is, what is good about "Khrushchevs" and whether the furniture of the 60s will have a collectible value.

Walking through the exhibition, I realized that many things here were painfully familiar to me. Who is this exhibition intended for: people familiar with Soviet design, or those who did not have time to encounter it?

We have a comprehensive exhibition. Of course, it is designed for both types of guests. On the one hand, this is interesting to people who were surrounded by the Soviet situation. On the other hand, it is educational for a younger audience, and one of the main goals of our exhibition is to break the mold. Showing what is Soviet is not the Soviet way.

It is no coincidence that several years ago the gallery focused on Soviet design: there are a lot of famous things, names that are not known not only in the West, but even here. Due to historical reasons, a page has been removed from the context of our art history. There is a whole galaxy of skilled architects, sculptors, designers, who are known today to a very narrow circle of specialists. The concept of “Soviet design” is very broad. Avant-garde artists turned to design, everyone tried to do something. But not a single piece of avant-garde design has survived to this day. But things from the late avant-garde and constructivism have been preserved, including Boris Iofan (one of the leading representatives of Stalinist architecture. - Note “365.”) In our collection there is one chair from “House on the Embankment.” The rest can be seen in museums.

What exactly is “Soviet modernism”?

We are talking about the latest style in the history of Soviet design - modernism. Officially it dates from 1955-85. When you remember what Soviet modernism is, there is a reference to great architecture. For example, to the same unfortunate demolished Rossiya Hotel, which was one of the brightest objects of Soviet modernism. This style arose after the death of Stalin, when another government came, a new cult of personality. At the same time, a completely unusual period for the USSR came - the so-called “thaw”, when the “Iron Curtain” opened slightly and a stream of fresh western wind came to us. The breakthrough was the VI World Festival of Youth and Students in 1957, especially for which Picasso made the “Dove of Peace.”

What is presented at the exhibition?

Our exhibition presents not only design, but also photography, painting, designer glass, bronze and porcelain. The task of the curators was to show how these things, in their aesthetics, are in tune with what was being done in the West. With the end of World War II, there was an urgent need to resettle communal apartments. People are starting to get their own housing, “Khrushchevka”. These same “Khrushchevs” are one of the negative patterns with which most people associate that period. In fact, this is a very interesting style that replaced the Stalinist Empire style. And those designers and architects who worked under Stalin felt uncomfortable because this style is devoid of decorative principles, it is more minimalist, it is heavy in form and has its roots in the ideas of Bauhaz: functionality, simplicity of lines, laconicism, massiveness.

But for young designers it was a vast field of activity, where they could make a name for themselves and leave behind a completely new architecture. And over these 30 years, a style such as Soviet modernism was formed, which was in tune with the fashionable design of the 50s and 60s in the West. Stalin's bulky furniture could not fit into the new compact apartments. A new furniture size and furniture designer appear. The first designer of that time, Yu.V. Sluchevsky, who introduced modular cabinet furniture, is still alive. At first, it caused terrible indignation among the public. But this furniture was approved and launched. This style has, on the one hand, socio-economic justification, and on the other hand, this is the aesthetics that existed in the West. This is a period of abstraction, this is the culture that developed in parallel with official socialist realism.

Are there any concepts or names that exhibition guests need to know?

Exhibitions are made to tell people something. If a person comes here and knows everything, then he is either an expert in this field, or a collector and is looking for things to purchase. In general, exhibitions are essentially created to show new material. I think that this was a difficult project for us: we had to combine very different things in our direction, and so that it didn’t turn into some kind of mess, we had to correctly expose it. And of course, I wanted things to be in dialogue with each other. We have an early piece of Oscar Rabin on display with a burning bible and next to The Ukrainian Uprising of 1970. This is an experimental thing. We want to force, in the good sense of the word, to look at the old in a new way. There was a whole galaxy of talented people who made completely avant-garde things that would fit perfectly into a modern Western interior today and it would be completely incomprehensible that this was done in the USSR. That’s why it’s valuable because it was done by artists living in a closed state. This is a parallel aesthetics, a parallel culture.

Am I correct in understanding that the exhibition was created to show unique items and not mass-produced items?

Undoubtedly . When we started working on this particular period, until the end of the 50s, the rule was that architects were also designers. They did great architecture, they also did interiors. Boris Iofan, while designing the House on the Embankment, also created its interiors. Karo Alabyan, one of the leading designers and architects of the Stalinist Empire style, erected not only the building of the Soviet Army Theater, but also all the furniture for it. It was entirely his project. It was in the 50s that the division between architects and designers began. And, of course, behind every thing there is a person who invented it. Our exhibition contains only original items. Thanks to the Stroganov Academy, we were able to find the author of each item. Yes, these were design groups, because design began to become depersonalized, but behind any object there are people. However, this was not advertised; it was unnecessary.

Does this furniture have collectible value?

Furniture from this period is already in fashion. I'm sure that in five years it will be in demand a little more than it is now. I will not say that it has a collector's value, but due to the fact that it disappears from the market, it will be one of the main objects of search. Today, even what was in mass production is difficult to find. They were mercilessly parted with: some took her to the dacha, others simply threw her out. We show here Soviet things, not Czech, Romanian or GDR.

Furniture is a reflection of the era. But from the point of view of today's trend, in the wake of general interest in the 50-60s, there is an opportunity to see what was happening in the USSR.

The exhibition is called “Soviet design - a phenomenon of culture and design of the twentieth century.” What is this phenomenon?

In general, the concept of Soviet modernism is a phenomenal definition. Modernism is a term associated with Western art in the first third of the twentieth century. The phenomenon of Soviet modernism is also that it is a style that can be integrated into the international context. There are things that are absolutely international, without propaganda overtones, without a totalitarian touch or propaganda. These things can easily stand on a par with objects of Western design, both in museums and to decorate apartments.

What do you like most about the exhibition??

I really like the shell sofa. I, of course, like the works of our nonconformist artists, the wonderful diptych Viktor Pivovarov. He and Ilya Kabakov bought paint that was not suitable for painting at all. This is a technical paint, nitro enamel, quite smelly with a Soviet smell. They made works on hardboard that immediately became objects. She did this during his “abstract” period, which few people know about. And Kabakov’s works, which are presented here, were also made using this nitro-enamel technique. I really like Erik Bulatov and Oleg Vasiliev. Made of glass – a stunning decorative vase “Electrification” by artist Helena Põld. The vase belongs to the designer's glass; there are such things in only two museums. I really love the sculptures of Nikolai Silis and consider him the Soviet Henry Moore. It is surprising that the aesthetics of their work are very close, despite the fact that Silis had no idea that such a sculptor as Henry Moore existed. It’s interesting that at the same time, in different parts of the world, completely different people were doing the same thing.

Let's look 10-15 years ahead. Is it possible that you will make an exhibition dedicated to the design of the 90s and 2000s?

No, and I'll tell you why. After 1985, domestic production practically disappeared, imports replaced everything. At this point, our design activity is completed. The 90s are generally not the most favorable period in recent history; little was produced at all.

And now?

Unfortunately no. Probably, at the Stroganov Academy there are talented students who do good final papers. But it doesn't go any further. My dream is to create a pool of designers who would create worthy things with their own personality, which would be worthy of appearing at Basel.

Collecting works of art is an elite hobby that requires not only a serious education in the field of art history, but also impeccable taste.
Art critic, corresponding member of the International Academy of Culture and Art, owner of the Moscow Heritage Gallery, Kristina Krasnyanskaya told us about whether it is possible to cultivate good taste on your own and how to learn how to create art collections.

Christina, what is “good taste” for you?
Good taste is the art of being in harmony with the world around you. Guided by taste, we can choose what will become a part of our life and what will not. It's like creating a good collection. The ability to choose and find matches determines the formation of our personal life context. A person with good taste always exists and feels in place and in time, since he strives for harmony between the external and internal world.
In your opinion, can good taste be cultivated?
Of course, good taste is a trait that is instilled in childhood. If a person becomes acquainted with beauty and the eternal canons of beauty from a very early age, it is much easier for him to develop good taste. Good taste is not an innate quality; rather, it is the result of working on oneself. Constantly expanding your horizons and discovering new things, we are improving your taste. Good taste is often associated with a sense of style, although these are two completely different concepts, like fashion and art.
What is more important when creating private collections - taste or fashion?
The laws of fashion exist in all types of human activity. But fashion is always conditional. Despite the fact that fashion art is incredibly in demand at a particular moment, this does not make it more attractive from the point of view of forming a collection. There are much more important criteria when choosing works for collecting, and first of all, this is the artistic value of the work. Today it is extremely fashionable to collect contemporary art, but this does not mean that collectors of 19th century art have bad taste...
The tastes of a professional and a novice collector very often do not coincide. How do you behave in such situations - do you instill taste in clients or try to comply their aspirations?
I always try to listen to the wishes and vision of my clients, without, however, hiding my opinion from them. As a rule, everyone starts collecting with the classics, guided by ideas received in anthologies and museum catalogs. But conservatism in collecting - not always a sign of good taste. Abstract art is an evolution that first the artist goes through, and then the viewer. This art requires special training, experience and education. You need to come to it, gradually expanding your vision, or you may never come.
How does contemporary art influence public taste?
At all times, fine art has shaped both the canons of beauty and fashionable types. Contemporary art does this in a more intense and eclectic way, talking about so many things at the same time. Today there is a tendency towards a synthesis of arts, when theater is combined with music, painting with design, video installations and cinema. Art shows us its attitude to the processes taking place in society and helps us determine our own attitude to this. How bright and interesting it turns out depends on the talent and skill of the artist.
Bad taste in art is...?
Shocking. When an artist lacks inspiration or school to make himself known to the world, he resorts to shocking behavior. Thanks to the activities of some creative associations, contemporary Russian art has become very often associated with shocking. Fortunately, in addition to shocking art, there are many interesting contemporary artists in Russia who draw on the rich traditions of the Russian school of painting. Without a doubt, someday their work will become known to the general public, but already now their works are collector's items.
Which artist's work is an example of impeccable taste for you?
This is a very comprehensive question. Artists such as Van Gogh, Marc Chagall, and Konstantin Korovin had an incredibly strong sense of style. For me personally, an endless source of admiration is the work of the count of the Russian avant-garde, Andrei Lansky, a Russian artist who left his homeland during the October Revolution and achieved wide recognition in the West. His lyrical abstractions are refined intellectual painting, full of the energy of “color-light.” Today, Lansky’s work is finally gaining well-deserved recognition in his homeland, which also testifies to the evolution of public taste in Russia...
(From the gallery website):
The main areas of activity of the international art gallery "Heritage" are the art of Russian emigration of the first half of the 20th century and contemporary Russian art.
Conscious of the responsibility that the work imposes on the gallery with works art of such a level as “Russian Abroad”, we strive to be as demanding as possible when working with contemporary art. Contemporary Russian and Western art is presented in the Heritage gallery by artists whose works are in the collections of a number of museums around the world.
Many participants in our exhibition projects are members of the Union of Artists of the USSR and Russia, students of such colossuses of modern painting as Varvara Bubnova (member of the “Youth Union”, “Jack of Diamonds”, “Donkey’s Tail”, exhibited together with Malevich, Tatlin and Rodchenko), Vasily Sitnikov (representative of “unofficial art, founder of his own school”), Heinrich Ludwig (representative of the avant-garde of Soviet architecture of the 20s).
Each of the presented in our gallery of works has undeniable artistic value, making contemporary art worthy of elite collecting and invariably giving us joy from contact with the beautiful.
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Kristina Krasnyanskaya (38 years old): daughter of co-owner of Eurocement Group Georgy Krasnyansky (net worth 1.5 billion dollars).
Heritage Gallery