Kryvolap paintings. The most expensive Ukrainian artist Anatoly Krivolap: “For two days I burned my paintings, lighting a fire in my own area…

CONSULTANT ON UKRAINIAN CONTEMPORARY ART

“Anatoly Krivolap is a painter with an unusual and amazing talent. He skillfully combines the brightness of the colors with the pastel nature of the plot, and the softness of the color with the deep content of the canvas. He is a recognized master in working with rich, deep, sometimes desperate and unrestrained, and sometimes incredibly quiet shades that convey the mood of a half-moment. His work hereditarily personifies the national color tradition, which determined the glory of Ukrainian painters throughout the world.
The works of this artist are close and understandable to everyone - from a professional connoisseur to an ordinary observer, because this is what real, sincere and timeless art is. At the same time, Anatoly’s paintings are complex, forcing the viewer to devote his time to contemplating them, to think, to launch the internal mechanisms of imagination, analyzing the system of interconnected signs, symbols and elements with which the artist fills his works full of expression and expressiveness. It is this kind of bright, bold, deep art that will define culture not only tomorrow, but also for the future.” – Igor Abramovich, March 2015, Kyiv

Denis Belkevich

MANAGING DIRECTOR “RED ART GALLERIES”

“Anatoly Krivolap is an incredible, powerful, original artist. I would call him “Ukrainian” with a big reservation: his work is of international class and should belong to the world history of art. Today there is a lot of talk about how Ukraine should be represented externally. art market, what image the country should receive in the information consciousness. In my opinion, business card Ukraine should become the color - as the bearer of the idea of ​​a country with great history and varied territory. In this regard, the non-figurative painting of Anatoly Krivolap, capable of catching the eye with a combination of two or three colors, better than others reflects the message that should bring Ukraine to the international stage.
The demand for an artist of this level and message is only confirmed by his market indicators: Krivolap holds the record for both official international sales (Philips, $186 thousand for the work “Horse. Evening”, 2011) and for sales to foreigners within the country (charity auction Red Art Galleries, $41 thousand for the work “March Evening”, 2013). The third threshold, which the artist was the first to take, was the first public re-sale among Ukrainian authors, which took place at Philips in 2014 (a year after the sale at Sotheby’s for $61 thousand, an untitled winter landscape was successfully sold at Phillips for $108 thousand). Anatoly also has the lowest percentage of unsold works - only 5%; over-estimates for landscapes reached 300% when the hammer hit. The only thing missing from this “marketing portfolio” is personal exhibition abroad, which will give a start to subsequent ones, and a contract with a major international gallery.
Anatoly Krivolap is often compared to Gerhard Richter - a non-figurative phenomenon of our generation - to this I can say one thing: there was a time when the German’s works cost less than the current Krivolap, there was a time when exactly the same. It was at this stage that he was seriously taken up abroad, and today tens of millions for Richter do not surprise anyone. Anatoly’s potential, according to many people to whom we showed him in the West, is even higher, because the German “gets” landscapes from himself, and Krivolap from nature. And it is endless and limitless.” – Denis Belkevich, April 2015, Kyiv

Eduard Dymshits

Candidate of Art History, Honored Artist of Ukraine, collector

“The works of Anatoly Krivolap are valuable both from an artistic and investment point of view. As an art critic and connoisseur of beauty, I can confidently say that today he is the best Ukrainian colorist. And paintings by famous masters of color, from Titian and Rembrandt to Rothko, have always been highly valued on the world art market.
As a collector and professional, I can emphasize that Krivolap confidently has the status of “the most expensive contemporary Ukrainian artist.” His works are successfully sold at the world's leading auctions for big money. Accordingly, the artist has no reason to dump and reduce the cost own works, because there will always be collectors who want to buy his paintings.
As a result, investing in Crookedpaw’s painting is a justifiable step from an artistic and financial point of view. After all, if you are lucky enough to become the owner of a painting by Anatoly Krivolap, then in the future your artistic acquisition will only become more expensive.” – Eduard Dymshits, January 2015, Kyiv

Jennifer Kahn

Art critic, independent curator

“Krivolap is undoubtedly a representative of both local and international art scene, relying in his work on local and coloristic traditions of painting, thanks to which he successfully represents his country to foreign audiences. Thanks to the impressive, completely modern color, he managed to take his country to a new, previously unattainable level. Bright and powerful, although pastoral and calm, his paintings could become national symbol Ukrainian present, also woven from contrasts and contradictions. Crookedpaw's canvases, characterized by long horizon lines and huge volumes luminous and sparkling sky, create new traditions, defining the place of Ukraine in the 21st century.
Krivolap's newest works have become a real innovative breakthrough for him as an artist. According to the artist himself, for the first fifteen years he worked in a lyrical manner with figurative themes, and then for another ten years he tried to find the harmony of colors in abstract compositions. It wasn't until 1990 that he found his emotional voice, achieving what he calls a kind of meditation. This is the nirvana of a mature artist - after decades of searching, honing his eye, brushwork and composition, Crookedpaw is now in the timeless state of his third creative stage, which for him equals a feeling of universal harmony.” – Jennifer Kahn, December 2014, Brownsville, Texas

Olga Palnichenko

Art critic

« Landscape painting Krivolapa balances on the verge of figurative and abstraction, which from a coloristic point of view allows us to compare the author with representatives of American abstract expressionism (Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning) and the French informel style (Serge Polyakov), but echoes of realistic perception make him similar to Ukrainian landscape school(Adalbert Erdeli).
His landscape is geographically referenced only by its name; the author does not give us a specific topographical reference. Krivolap, demonstrating a holistic view of the world and nature, has remained true to his motives for almost 20 years, so the serial nature of his work seems quite natural and understandable.
Krivolap's canvases are documentary evidence of the eternity of nature and its colossal power. That is why the presence of a person in his landscapes is very intelligent and unobtrusive. The history of the development of relations between man and nature for the master still has a positive connotation - nature dominates in its power. And for the artist this is the only unshakable truth.
The main means of communication between the artist and the viewer is color, but the dialogue mediated by color cannot initially proceed painlessly. After all, only when the emotional perception of the canvas turns into a meditative one is the interaction of the color field with outside world, for which the viewer becomes a mediator.” - Olga Palnichenko, April 2015, Vienna

Ukrainian painter Anatoly Krivolap recently confirmed for the third time the title of the most dear artist Ukraine. His painting “Horse. Evening” was sold at Phillips for 186.2 thousand dollars, given that before this experts valued the work at 70-100 thousand.

Before this there are two more paintings - “Horse. Night" and "Steppe" were sold in 2011 for 124.3 thousand dollars and 98.5 thousand dollars, respectively.

Anatoly Krivolap is rightfully considered a classic of Ukrainian art. Today, his works can be seen at the recently opened exhibition of Ukrainian art “Go with the Hour: Mystery of the 1960s - the beginning of the 2000s” at the National art museum in Kyiv.The artist lives and works outside of Kyiv, in the small village of Zasupoevka and rarely gives interviews, but made an exception for Buro 24/7.

Steppe

Tell us the story behind the creation of your latest painting, “Horse. Evening,” which was purchased at the Phillips auction.

Near my house there is a small park in which two horses graze on the opposite side. One of them is orange. During sunset, the last purple rays absorb the colors with their light, and the horse, dissolving in this radiance, seems unreal. Is it possible to pass by without noticing this?

Horse. Night

How can the commercialization of art and the pure creativity of the artist coexist?

Based on my experience, I know that the goal of “pure creativity” is precisely commerce, and the most expensive one at that. These concepts are essentially inseparable, it’s just that some people manage to combine them, while others do not. I agree with the expression “if a work is sold cheaply, it is commerce, and if it is expensive, it is art.” The irony of this phrase is probably close to reality.

Do you think that art in Ukraine is beginning to at a slow pace reborn?

This complex issue. On the one hand, contemporary art is gaining momentum, on the other hand, we are losing what has always been our strong aspect - a good academic school. And this cannot but worry, since it is not clear in which direction Ukrainian art will move next.

Horse. Evening

Is there a future for young artists in Ukraine? What advice would you give them?

New “cadres” that appear sooner or later go their own way, and, based on the fact that art has always existed in parallel with humanity, the young Ukrainian generation has a future as part of world culture. What advice can you give to art university students? They are faced with specific tasks: the experience of teachers, of course, helps to become a professional, but as an artist, everyone shapes themselves. In this regard, I would like to recall the words of Steve Jobs: “You need to listen to your intuition and live by your own mind.”

Famous Ukrainian artist Anatoly Krivolap set a new world record for sales of Ukrainian art at international market contemporary art.

Record at auction of contemporary art

On the auction contemporary art Phillips de Pury & Co painting “Horse. Night”, created by Anatoly Krivolap, was sold for a record amount for Ukrainian art - $124.4 thousand. This was almost three times the original cost of the painting.

Mystical landscape “Horse. Night” took sixth place at the Phillips de Pury & Co. auction. The work of the Ukrainian artist was sold along with works by recognized world masters of contemporary art, such as Wade Guyton, Anselm Reilly, George Condo.

"Horse. Night"

Even before the sale of this painting, Anatoly Krivolap was the most expensive Ukrainian artist. His painting “The Steppe” was sold at Phillips de Pury & Co in New York for $98.5 thousand.

Victory of Ukrainian art

The head and co-founder of the Phillips de Pury & Co auction house, art critic and curator Simon de Pury, commented on the record sale of the work of the Ukrainian artist: “This sale is a real victory for Ukrainian art. We consider Anatoly Krivolap a very promising artist. Our auction house and in the future he will definitely work with Anatoly Krivolap and other Ukrainian artists.”

In addition to the work of Anatoly Krivolap, from the auction Phillips de Pury & Co. was sold famous picture Viktor Sidorenko from the “Levitation” project, who represented Ukraine in 2003 at the Venice Biennale. It was sold for $23.7 thousand.

A painting by the famous Odessa artist Igor Gusev “The Return of Elvis” from the Cosmo collection was sold for $16 thousand. And a photograph of Vitaly and Elena Vasilyev from the No Art project, created at the M17 Center for Contemporary Art, went under the hammer for $8 thousand.

A total of 171 works were sold at the Phillips de Pury & Co. toga, held in mid-October in New York. contemporary art, and the amount received from their sale was $5.7 million.

Anatoly Krivolap is the most sought-after artist in Ukraine

Anatoly Krivolap was born on September 11, 1946 in the city of Yagotin, Kyiv region. He is a graduate of the Kyiv State Art Institute. Famous artist V this moment is a leading member of the Picturesque Reserve group.

Anatoly Krivolap is the most sought-after Ukrainian artist, whose works have been great success sold at the most famous auctions in the world - Sotheby's and Phillips de Pury & Co.

At an auction in London, the master’s painting was sold for 124 thousand 400 dollars, which became a record among Ukrainian artists

For fifteen years, Anatoly Krivolap searched for “his” color, so that in the early nineties he could become one of the most successful Ukrainian artists, and in the early 2000s, the most expensive. A painting by Anatoly Dmitrievich crossed the next price milestone a month ago - the work “Horse. Night" was sold at auction in London for $124,400. And in the spring of this year, his creation went under the hammer in New York for 98 thousand dollars. However, financial matters do not really bother the Ukrainian artist. Many years ago he left Kyiv, settled in a village near Yagotin and reluctantly left his beloved workshop. He does not wear expensive watches and is indifferent to jewelry, food and everyday life. He says that living in the village has made him feel a little better, but he wouldn’t trade it for anything. Although, given his capabilities, he could have done it in a moment.

“I found more than 50 variations of the red shade.”

— Have you been told that the color of your eyes is exactly like the sky in the canvases you create?

- Never. Although, I remember, the girls admitted that when I look at the sky, my eyes turn blue. In fact, they are gray-blue in color. But my foster brother has dark blue, burning eyes. Stunning shade.

- But your favorite color is probably still red.

— For many years I painted only in this color. They recognized me thanks to the red. I found more than fifty variations of this shade! The red color is very strong. It can be festive and tragic. The entire emotional palette is in this one color. I have always been interested in how colors can be used to convey what you are experiencing. The palette is just a set of shades, behind which there are real feelings or the lack thereof.

— Has it always been like this in your life?

- As long as I can remember. Since childhood, I had the feeling that everything in life would turn out somehow special. My parents had nothing to do with art; they were orphans. My dad only has two years of education, and my mom didn’t go to school at all. But it was she who emotionally supported me and believed in me. She told me when I was little, I drew anywhere and with whatever I could. I could take a piece of coal, lean against the white wall of our house, and suddenly a horse would appear there. I learned to draw by myself. There was no one to show how to do it correctly. I remember in the library in Yagotin I found some faded book with drawing lessons from a pre-war edition. It became my first painting textbook.

- So, at a time when boys dreamed of becoming pilots and astronauts...

— The period of childhood, when I had not yet drawn, was probably the happiest in my life. Then creative fanaticism came, erasing almost everything from it. I could no longer be interested in anything other than painting. Dad worked as a machinist railway and wanted me to follow in his footsteps. He said: “You need to have a specialty. And painting is just pampering.” There were three brothers in our family, I was the youngest. He always joked, two brothers are smart, and the third is an artist. My family didn’t accept my profession for a long time; they didn’t even go to exhibitions. But I didn’t care - I couldn’t imagine any other life. My childhood was post-war years. We didn’t have a TV at home, and we were often left without electricity. In winter, after four in the evening it was already starting to get dark, there was nothing to do. I started drawing first out of boredom, and then moved on from real world to the one that understood best - the world of colors. Since I started drawing, I can’t see life as real.

*The painting, against which Anatoly Krivolap stands, is made in yellow, red and blue tones. It’s impossible to count how many shades there are on the canvas—a real storm of colors. It is impossible to take your eyes off the abstraction; in small lonely details everyone finds something of their own, hidden in the very depths of the soul. PHOTO: Sergey DATSENKO, “FACTS”

-You don’t even see people?

- I do not see. I either feel them or I don’t. I encode everything I encounter every day into a color palette.

- And what color am I?

— I would take a little green, draw a red line and another color that is still hidden from me. I would make it gray so that I could repaint it later depending on the situation. I almost never use it at work green color. He's too calm for me. Doesn't reflect my energy, so it makes me nervous.

- What can we talk about white then?

- But it’s the other way around! I have practically no furniture at home, and the walls are white. Even in my youth I decided that the best home for me was a monk’s cell. White walls, minimalism. White color universal. Looking at it, I can see color programs. This is its value. White is for everyday life, green is for relaxation. All the rest are for work.

“It’s a dark night in the city, but in the village it’s... bright”

-What color are you?

- Red with a raspberry tint. Like your blouse. Even brighter.

- Two of yours latest paintings, sold for big money at world auctions, dark purple shades.

- This is what worries me now. I work in large series. If I start writing in a certain color, I delve deeper into it, like into a “gold mine.” It so happened that the painting “Night. Horse" blue-violet. I don’t know what shade it will be tomorrow. Color is a whole life. First you need to get used to it, find out the weak ones, strengths. Then pull it all out. And... let go. Everything is like in life. I wasn't always famous.

- Remember that time?

— Graduated from Kyiv art institute, and I was invited to work. It was a foundation where artists, many national and honored, worked. They paid decent money there. I painted a picture a month and received two thousand rubles for it! At that time, an engineer's salary was only 150 rubles. My still life took two days to complete and cost 500 rubles. Colossal money! But all the artists in the foundation depended on officials who came to us in luxurious Seagulls and decided whether to accept the work or not. These views were the most feared. I had already begun my experiments with color, which simply irritated many. I had to either submit or go free. I chose the second one. He carried out his experiments for 15 years with virtually no money. He did not die of hunger thanks to the Polish collector Ryszard Wroblewski. He came to Kyiv once a month and bought my works. Today he has 92 of them. He lived more or less decently until the early nineties. And in 1992 I was invited to an exhibition in Germany. My first work was sold for 12 thousand marks! At that time, a family in Ukraine could live for a month on 10 dollars. I became rich.

— And they settled in the very center of Kyiv.

— I moved to Kyiv after the eighth grade, when I studied at art school. Then he joined the army, went to college, and started earning money. And in the 90s I bought an apartment in the very center. From its windows one could see the Lysenko monument near Opera House. They recognized me and started buying my work. By the way, I was one of the first artists in Kyiv who raised the price for my canvases to a thousand dollars. At that time, in Ukraine, collectors bought paintings for 200, 300 dollars. Galleries began to refuse to exhibit my work, but I sold well abroad.

-What is the story when you burned your paintings?

- It was two years ago. In two days I burned about two thousand of my sketches. All of them are written on cardboard. You can’t even call them paintings; many remained unfinished. I deliberately painted on cardboard, knowing that no one would buy such works - galleries did not accept them, collectors were not interested in them. Only my Pole bought it. But I needed to train and grow. Now that I have become noticeable, I want only the best things to remain after me. Why sell the stages of your formation, such as half Crookedfoot? Then I decided to burn everything. He burned for two days, starting a fire in his own area. And my grandson brought me work in a wheelbarrow. Only a small part of those paintings remains. But when I have time, I’ll sleep them too.

— It’s not for nothing that you are compared to the great Gogol... Do you have a favorite painting?

- There are two of them. My house, which was written in 1990. This is an iconic landscape. Having created it, I realized that I couldn’t raise the bar of creativity any higher. I will never be able to surpass the level of that work. The painting sold in Germany for 50 thousand marks. But probably the most precious to me is my first abstraction of blue color. I have it at home, I will never sell it.

- So, the white walls of your house are still covered with paintings?

- No, they are clean. I have the canvases. And not only mine. Since his student days he has been involved in collecting. I have work to do famous Nicholas Glushchenko. This is such a boost.

— You can afford to live in any city in the world. Nevertheless, they left Kyiv and moved to a village several tens of kilometers from the capital.

— There are places where you want to work. And there are those in which you begin to hate yourself. I love Kyiv, but I stopped working there. And in the village I create! I have a fantastic place. The vegetable garden goes straight down to the lake, which is two and a half kilometers wide. The view is such that it takes your breath away. After all, in the city the night is dark, but in the village it is... bright. You should have seen this picture! I write mostly in the evening.

“It’s like they threw a woman’s soul into my male body”

— Is there anything in life that interests you as much as painting?

- Nothing, absolutely.

- And women?!

- I think they are in fourth place for me. My family knows this very well. I'm a fanatic. An inconvenient person to live with. I can experiment with color for twenty hours without a break. No days off or vacation. I won’t even cook for myself if I’m hungry. The maximum I can do is buy or order food. Everything else is a waste of time. I've never had a hobby in my life. Or rather, a hobby is a job. True, now we need to take a short break. Health problems have begun and my blood pressure is rising. Probably because I started working with enamel. Imagine being in a closed room all day, where there are a hundred open cans with paint. Plus turpentine.

—Aren’t you allergic to this?! You happy man!

— There are no allergies, but my blood pressure is up. The doctors looked at me and asked: “Do you work at a chemical plant?” I say: “And voluntarily.” I'm addicted to work. This is my happiness and misfortune. All my life it’s like I’m on a swing - sometimes at the top, sometimes at the bottom. But this is exactly what is incredibly interesting.

— They say that for your work “Horse. Night" at an auction in London, a real struggle broke out among collectors.

- I am not interested. I have not been to a single auction, even in Ukraine. I very rarely go to exhibitions. Not interested. Everything important to me happens in the workshop. What else do I need to know?

— For example, the fact that you are called the most expensive Ukrainian artist.

- So what?! I'm not a businessman. Money doesn't interest me. Since 1992 I have everything I want. And my requests are small. There is a saying: a rich person is not the one who has a lot of money, but the one who doesn’t need much...

- But, you see, money can bring a lot of pleasant moments. For example, buying things, cars...

— I have two cars. I mostly drive a jeep. I love sports cars, but they are not for our roads. One of my first cars was very noticeable in Kyiv - a red Volvo. She was then the only one in the city. The next two cars were also red. But the last one is gray. I found an image of my life - gray and white. Only the paints in my paintings can be colored. I neutralized everything else in my life... You know, in my youth I rode a motorcycle, wore a long haircut and tried to hide the fact that I was an artist.

- Why?!

- This is some kind of unmanly specialty. We are like perverts. Is it normal that I am more sensitive than a woman? In my male body like they threw me female soul. To be honest, I have never met a woman who felt the world more strongly than me. But you women are “receivers”. Only you can truly appreciate art, not the man next to you. Whoever he is...