Russia’s first-ever auction round-table, held in Moscow at the offices of The Auction House of the Russian Federation on September 26, was a landmark event for the Russian art market.
The theme of the round-table was The Future of Auctions in Russia: Examining The French Model. The event was organized in conjunction with the French Auctioneers’ Association, SYMEV, a voluntary organization formed in 2002 (to co-ordinate auctioneers’ lobbying and communication), to which over half of France’s 389 auction firms belong.
This was the first in a series of round-tables to be organized by RAD, with a view to creating a benchmark for Russian auction market development by studying auction systems in other countries.
The event was held at RAD’s elegant Style Modern premises in Gostiny Dvor, and attended by senior RAD officials; high-level delegates from France; Russian auctioneers, gallery-owners and other art-world figures; and members of the international press.
The round-table was divided into four sessions, devoted to: the Auction Scene in Russia & France; Regulation; Finance; and Expertise & Internet.

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Andrey Stepanenko, Managing Director of RAD, introduced the round-table by noting that, although auctions in Russia dated back to Peter I, ‘there is no specific auction law in Russia today’ and there was therefore much to learn from the French auction system, the oldest in the world. France, he noted, remained the world’s fourth-largest auction market (after China, USA and the U.K.) with total annual sales of €1.4 billion. He believed the round-table offered ‘a perfect opportunity to exchange experiences, meet foreign colleagues and discuss issues important not only for Russia but also for the global art and antiques community.’

I The Auction Scene in Russia & France

Hervé Chayette, President of SYMEV, fresh from heading a 20-person SYMEV delegation on a ten-day fact-finding mission to Ukraine and Russia (including a visit to the RAD premises in St Petersburg), explained SYMEV’s role in lobbying the European Union and French government to influence the new, more liberal French auction law adopted in July 2011.
He pronounced the French system ‘among the best in the world’ due to the legal protection it afforded both vendors and buyers, and for the level of expertise in describing and attributing works offered for sale. He warned, however, that auctions in France had suffered from ‘over-regulation’ ever since the reign of Henri II in the 16th century. He was particularly critical of the invasive role of Conseil des Ventes (Auction Council), a French government watchdog that oversees fair business practice and can fine or suspend auction firms who fail to meet prescribed ethical standards.
Chayette also revealed that, despite their long history, auctions in France were widely considered ‘enigmatic and élitiste’ among the public. This made powerful communication necessary, such as the ‘National Auction Weekend’ staged throughout France by SYMEV every year. He also talked of SYMEV’s contacts with auctioneers in other countries, established after study-trips to China, the Gulf, UK, Holland, Belgium and Romania.

II Regulation

Georges Decocq, Professor of Law and legal advisor to SYMEV, explained his role in the lobbying for France’s recently adopted, more liberal auction law, and praised the liberalizing influence of EU law when compared to France’s protectionist tradition.
He also evoked French export/import regulations and UNESCO regulations on the sale of stolen goods, and expressed his hostility to droit de suite, the artists’ re-sale levy, suggesting that its original intention – to help penniless artists – had been lost, and that today the levy went mainly to the super-rich descendants of Picasso and Matisse.
Ekaterina Pronicheva, a Lawyer with Yust, specializing in the art market, called the Russian art market ‘opaque’ and widely misunderstood by Russian citizens. She regretted the State’s lack of interest in the art market, compared to its involvement in other economic sectors such as gas, oil and finance, and criticized the import/export law of 1993 for putting a brake on the art market. She compared the Russian State’s readiness to ban the export of works of art, without any obligation to compensate the owner, with the French system, whereby the State has to pay the market value for any item it bans from export. She insisted that Russian auctions needed a legislative base to develop, and suggested that France offered a useful example in this context.

III Finance

Claude Aguttes, President of Drouot Enchères (the central venue for auctions in Paris), explained that the Buyer’s Premium in France had climbed from 11% to 20-23% over the last decade, but that auctioneers now competed fiercely to secure major consignors by offering vendor commission of 0%, or even guarantees to vendors irrespective of sales.
After noting the plethora of fakes on the Russian market, Marina Sitnina, General Director of Art Finance/ Vice-President of Gazprombank, compared the Russian auction system with that in China, where the State is strongly involved in firms such as Poly Auction.

IV Expertise & Internet

Jean-Michel Renard, Chairman of the France’s National Chamber of Specialist Experts, contrasted the fact that, in France, 99% of auction experts are also independent dealers, with the situation in the UK/US, where most experts are salaried auction-house employees. He felt that museum curators did not make good auction experts, as their limited knowledge of the market made it difficult for them to make accurate auction estimates. He also stressed the importance of serious, lengthy training for experts, and the need for them to communicate effectively both in writing and in speech.
He reported that his organization was continuously seeking contacts with colleagues abroad, and therefore welcomed the round-table. After creating a bureau in Shanghai, his Chamber was now in the process of establishing a bureau in Moscow.
Vladimir Bogdanov, Editor-in-Chief of ARTinvestment.ru, took as his theme Internet’s ‘invasion’ of the auction world. In response to Hervé Chayette’s admission that just 46% of French auction firms had a website, and only 14% were equipped to host on-line bidding, Bogdanov declared that 100% of Russia’s (rather smaller) pool of auctioneers were fully equipped for the Web [Andrey Stepanenko pointed here to RAD lot-on-line].
Bogdanov also referred to the growing significance of on-line art fairs, and contrasted the ‘crisis’ affecting the printed media with the boom in social networks and art portals. He felt there was a ‘tremendously dynamic’ Internet scene in today’s Russia.

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After summing up the day’s contributions, round-table moderator Simon Hewitt, an Oxford-trained art historian and international art market journalist since 1985, praised RAD for their stylish hosting of the event, and thanked the French participants for their frank appraisal of the merits and shortcomings of their domestic auction system. Whatever the latter’s shortcomings, he felt it important to respect its quality of training, expertise, legal guarantees and personal service. He suggested that the creation of a successful Russian Auction Federation, with its own ethical code of conduct, might form a powerful basis for influencing any future Russian federal auction law.
Concluding a full and stimulating day of intensive discussion, which lasted from 10:30 until 19:00, Andrey Stepanenko, General Director of RAD, revealed that ‘We are advancing the idea of establishing a similar organization to SYMEV in Russia. All auction houses operating on the territory of the Russian Federation will be invited to join.’

For further information, please contact:
Valeria Afanasievа
tel +7 495 234 04 00, mob +7 916 215 50 45, afanasieva@auction-house.ru

NOTES

* RAD was launched in August 2009 by a decree of the Russian Government. Its main partner is Sberbank - the largest financial structure in Russia. Along with auctions of real estate and share packages, RAD has staged sales of art and antiques since November 2010. The firm has state-of-the-art storage premises and provides expert examination and valuation of works of art. ‘A comprehensive auctioning structure was established in a very short time by international standards’ notes Managing Director Andrey Stepanenko.
* Partners of the round-table included London-based ATG Media, whose internet portal the-saleroom.com, launched in 2001, is Europe's leading portal for art and antiques auctions