The Herald Tribune reports on the new craze by the wives of Russian oligarchs to commision extravagant oil paintings of themselves. The hot artist among Muscovites is Nikas Safronov who charges over $70,000 per portrait and is known as ‘the creator of an aesthetic that embraces the Russian cult of personality, czarist aristocracy and Soviet kitsch’, capturing the essence of Russian high society in all its opulence.
As a renewed interest in portraiture currently graces many national galleries , the Oligarchs see themselves and their families as important faces for the future to be preserved accordingly, asking to be painted in renaissance styles and grand settings.
The paintings are far more elaborate than the previously reported offerings from the Chapman Brothers, but the two extremes of ‘high art’ both show the same thing- nowadays you’re no-one until you have your own commissioned portrait.
read the full article here
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