From Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi to Andy Warhol’s Four Marilyns, it amounts to an art collection that could grace any gallery in the world.

But rather than being the highlights of a blockbuster exhibition at a major gallery, these are just some of the 300, and counting, pieces known to have been recently owned by Russian nationals under western sanctions that have been entered into a searchable database set up by Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP).

The agency’s “war and sanctions portal” lists paintings and sculptures thought to have been bought and sold in recent years by the Russian super-rich accused by the west and Kyiv of aiding and abetting Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

The purpose of the tool, the agency said, was to “make it easier for virtuous art market participants to carry out sanctions checks and make it difficult for Russian oligarchs to sell such assets”.

Western economic sanctions imposed on hundreds of Russian individuals are designed to restrict the ability of those who are profiting from or fuelling the war to move their fortunes around the world.

Artworks can be relatively easily sold across national borders without alerting the authorities, with the subjective nature of the value allowing prices to be easily inflated or deflated.

The antiquities, art and cultural object market is said to have had a global value of $65.1bn in 2021, according to the Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental laundering watchdog that published a report in February to advise on regulatory best practice.

The NACP said Russian oligarchs were still all too easily able to “hide and launder their money through art objects” despite the sanctions imposed on them.

“Painting, sculptures, artistic jewellery – this is exactly what is used as a loophole to circumvent sanctions,” the agency said. “The ‘war and art’ section will contribute to the work on preventing the circumvention of sanctions, finding artistic assets of sanctioned Russians with the aim of their further freezing, confiscation and future transfer to Ukraine.”

Among the collectors named on the portal is the former Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich, who is said to have acquired a number of well-known pieces over the years, including a Francis Bacon triptych from 1976, Alberto Giacometti’s Woman of Venice I and eight albums from the series The 10 Characters by the American conceptual artist Ilya Kabakov. The works bought are said to have an estimated value of $163.9m (£128m).

The portal discloses that Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi, dating from about 1500, was acquired by the billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, although it has since been sold on, while Mikhail Fridman, a close ally of Putin’s and a co-founder of the Russian multinational Alfa Group, acquired Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe tribute in 2013.

The inclusion of famous works by artists as varied as Claude Monet, Damien Hirst and Auguste Rodin highlights the extraordinary wealth accumulated by those said to be supporting the Russian leadership.

The portal invites submissions on the potential ownership by sanctions-hit Russians of other pieces of valuable art through an online form, with the agency recognising that the “process of updating information is quite complicated, because there is no official data on the direct owners of art objects, formally it can be their relatives, or the owner can change several times in short periods of time”.

“Currently, the section contains information on more than 300 art objects,” the agency said. “Among their owners are Russian billionaire Viatcheslav Kantor, model Daria Zhukova, rapper Timur Yunusov (Timati) and other individuals who are under sanctions for directly supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine.”

The estimated value of the works identified is $1.3bn. In some cases, the art has been sold on to people who are not on a sanctions list but their past Russian ownership has been included in an attempt to discourage such assets being used to launder fortunes.

With more than 30 years experience representing Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, known for their highly-collectible whimsical sculptures of flora and fauna, Paris-based gallerist Jean-Gabriel Mitterrand discusses the dynamic and diverse collector base of one of the 20^th century’s most famous art couples.

How have the deaths of Les Lalanne impacted the prices of their works on the secondary market? Does the death of an artist generally push up prices?

I think that depends mostly on the number of collectors who have already bought pieces, so first you have important collectors all over the world when Claude died who were already supporting the prices because when they decide to buy a new work, they accept to pay for it because they have to support their own collection of works. When an artist dies, you have no possibilities to have new works, so the number of works available on the market cannot change. That creates a desire to possess a work done before death, and so the more collectors are already trained to buy, the more the market is supported. At the same time, as both François-Xavier and Claude created like mad a lot of different works, you have so many possibilities to buy different works, but you have different levels in the market. All the prices are going up, but you have some works that are not discovered yet like the “Centaure” or “Minotaure”, and it’s always a surprise on the market. They always surprise the market, so it’s always a challenge when you sell a Lalanne to create a good surprise and to help the market to go up every year.

Who are the collectors of their works? Any notable, big-name collectors of their work?

The first collectors were European. Myself, during 20 years, I sold a lot of works to French, Belgian, German, Swiss collectors at reasonable prices. That was the first step. Then when the market was strong enough, we decided to increase the prices and the American market was reached by interior designers first. First by Alexander Iolas’ gallery with the de Ménil collection, but after that or at the same time even, you had Jacques Grange and François Catroux working with international collectors, and you had also Peter Marino who introduced the Lalannes to the best collections in the States. The best collectors are Nathalie de Noailles, Agnelli, the Rothschild family, Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Bergé, the d’Ornano family, but you had also the Americans buying like my friend Leo Delli, who is a great collector and first supporter of Lalanne from the States, the Tuttle family in California, the famous Schwarzman financial tycoon, who bought from my gallery when I did exhibitions in Palm Beach, Alfred and Judy Taubman. Taubman was the owner of Sotheby’s. You had the famous Jane Holzer, who is a great friend and was Baby Jane for Andy Warhol. I think she’s the most important collector of Lalanne with Peter Marino in the States. As those people had a huge reputation as tastemakers and as collectors, the reputation of the Lalannes increased quickly in the States. Then came Paul Kasmin with his important gallery, which also developed a lot the reputation of Lalanne. There are also a lot of new young collectors. We reach the American market, but we reach also the Chinese market. Ben Brown and myself, we have a lot of collectors in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Are they influenced by European and American collectors?

Yes, but I think that the Lalannes are ambassadors of French taste in contemporary art coming from the 18^th-century French tradition of high taste, which is why they fit so well in Versailles, in the Queen’s Hamlet [in the exhibition Galerie Mitterrand had organized at the Chateau de Versailles in 2021]. Marie-Antoinette was the first queen to order an English park in France when we had French-style gardens traditionally. She created a real change when she ordered an English park. This kind of relation of Marie-Antoinette with nature is really something interesting that built also the Lalanne dream because Marie-Antoinette dreamed of escaping from Versailles to the Queen’s Hamlet and to the English Gardens, to escape the rude attitude of all the people around the King, and the Lalannes help us to escape the city, pollution, all the aggressions of the city. When you are with Lalanne works, you come back to simplicity, nature and a kind of contemplation.

If Marie-Antoinette had been alive at the same time as the Lalannes, would she have been a collector?

I’m sure she would have been. If you saw a rabbit made by Claude, “Lapin de Victoire”, it was exactly in the perfect position to seduce Marie-Antoinette, I think. And if you saw the sheep by François in front of the Queen’s Hamlet, it’s exactly the dream of Marie-Antoinette.

Tell me about Christie’s New York 2021 sale of the “Troupeau d’Éléphants dans les Arbres” table that achieved $6.63 million.

I had sold myself those works to Mrs Sydell Miller in the early 2000s, and because she built this extraordinary house in Miami that was done with Peter Marino, she came to my gallery and discovered and bought the “Singes”. Then she came back and she saw the famous table with elephants. The table with elephants was something very special by François-Xavier Lalanne because as he put elephants under the table, you cannot use the table; it’s a room centerpiece, you put it in a big entrance, so you need a huge house to place this table and she knew how to use it. She did an extraordinary decor, and the house was famous for the quality and the collections inside. The table is very rare. I think François-Xavier did two or three of it, not more. In the States, you have so much money. You never know if there will be two or three very rich people who want the same thing. They don’t care about the price. The quality of the work is extraordinary because the table looks like a tree and you have a herd of elephants of different sizes under it, each of them different from the other. It has a safari look, something very special, full of imagination and so well done. It’s a beauty. It was more than $6 million because it depends on the number of collectors competing to buy, but the piece is really something impressive and rare.

Why is it that works that the Lalannes made individually have achieved higher prices at auction than works they made together?

I think firstly because I never saw any “Minotaure” or “Centaure” at auction. They’re very rare. Secondly because I think the subjects they did together are a tribute to mythology, but mythology is a little far from their own universe. It’s a little fantasy for them, and they did it because they had the idea, but in fact, it’s not their usual way of working. They worked separately and on more modest models. I had sold a beautiful “Centaure” to the city of Taipei in Taiwan and a “Minotaure” to some good collections, but they’re less specific than their usual works and never appeared at auction.

Urban Collectibles, a pop-up market of urban art, will return to Public House, Sukhumvit 31, with a selection of mind-blowing artworks on Friday from 6pm to 10pm and Saturday to Sunday from 11am to 9pm.

Organised by Mango Art Festival, this is another chance to get immersed in original artwork on canvas and limited edition art toys of various styles by local and international urban artists which will be exhibited in a boutique hotel setting.

They include fun and fabulous pieces by artists from Gallery Benetti, captivating creations from Street Star Gallery, folk art-inspired classic cartoon characters by Luck Maisalee, and unique works by the ever-talented Lolay and his artistic family members.

Also, prepare to witness the raw artistic prowess of many local art groups including Boo_x_ Project, Tuktunteung Warehouse and The Meeting Room Gallery. Their works will be showcased alongside paintings by Narayan from the Philippines, exquisite creations by Art Gyeonggi from Korea, and stunning neon art pieces by Giles Ryder from Australia.

The event will also feature a specially curated room showcasing many rare vintage Louis Vuitton trunks from De Siam’s exclusive collection, as well as Club 21 x Wishulada, a collaborative exhibition featuring creative works that touch on pollution and world sustainability.

Left Vintage Louis Vuitton trunks. photos courtesy of Mango Art Festival

Artwork by Art Gyeonggi. Mango Art Festival

There is no admission fee. Visit facebook.com/MangoArtFestival.

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Phillips is launching a new platform that will see the auction house partner with individual artists and sell specially created, editioned works directly to buyers. Dubbed Dropshop, the platform will offer limited edition releases of primary-market art and objects in partnership with artists, collaborators and brands.

“Dropshop is the first and only platform in the international auction sphere that partners directly with working artists, disrupting the traditional, long-held dynamics between the primary and secondary markets,” according to a statement from Phillips.

The auction house will collaborate with designated partners on every step, from conception to curation all the way to fabrication and promotion. The items will be available for a limited time through a “buy now” e-commerce model on Phillips’ website. “Offerings are exclusive…once they’re gone, they’re gone,” according to the statement. There will be a new drop and a new collaborator each month.

The first artist queued up to take part is Australian born, Brooklyn-based artist Cj Hendry, famous for her hyperreal drawings and elaborate installations. She has produced a sculptural object in the form of a red crown for the first drop.

“We’re always looking for new ways to engage with collectors and really respond to the impulses we see happening in the contemporary market at large,” said Amanda Lo Iacono, Philllips head of auctions, in a phone interview with Artnet News. “The concept of Dropshop was really something that we were seeing demand for, both from collectors and artists/collaborators. This is way to connect with each other without some of the noise.”

Cj Hendry, Crown. Image courtesy the artist and Phillips.

And there’s an added bonus for the artists who participate: If a buyer resells a work through the Phillips platform, the artist will be entitled to a resale royalty pegged at 3 percent of the sale price, which is commensurate with the resale royalty rate in the U.K. Terms of the revenue and profit sharing, however, are confidential.

Asked about the size and price points of Hendry’s drop, Lo Iacono said “Cj is doing a sculptural edition of 100, she has cheekily said to her following that the prices are between $5 and $5 million.”

The sequence of the offering is also highly specific owing to Hendry’s emphasis on the experiential nature of her practice, Lo Iacono said. She will officially take over the Dropshop platform on August 14, with an “activating” experience happening at Phillips headquarters at 432 Park Avenue on the 19th, and the object dropping on August 20.

“What’s really great about this platform is we can really act as real partners here,” Lo Iacono said. “We’re excited about finding ways to have artists participate in their success.”

More Trending Stories:  

Archaeologists in the U.K. Are Using Ground-Penetrating Radar to Locate the 130-Year-Old Remains of a Legendary Performing Elephant 

The Company Behind the Wildly Popular ‘Immersive Van Gogh’ Experience Has Filed for Bankruptcy 

Drake Outs Himself as Buyer of Tupac Shakur’s Iconic Crown Ring, Sold for $1 Million at Sotheby’s 

Nefarious Data Collection Masking as Public Art? An A.I. Company Has Placed Mirrored Spheres Around the World in a Massive Eye-Scanning Project 

Three Ancient Roman Coins That Were Part of a Hoard Found in the U.K. Were Mysteriously Swapped With Other, More Valuable Coins 

Fast-Rising Artist Jeanine Brito’s Visceral Paintings Put a ‘Dark and Grotesque’ Spin on Fairy Tales 

Follow Artnet News on Facebook:
Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.

Phillips is moving from the auction block to the primary art market by partnering directly with artists and other collaborators to sell limited-edition pieces each month through a digital platform it’s calling Dropshop. 

Cj Hendry, a Brooklyn-based Australian artist, will offer the first Dropshop artworks in the form of brilliant-red bronze crowns that appear as inflatables and an original 60-inch by 60-inch drawing in her hyper-realistic style. The works are the first in her upcoming Crown series, Phillips said. 

It all starts with a story. That’s the premise behind elk & HAMMER, an online gallery featuring a global collective of artisans and makers redefining what it is to live and work, finding a symbiosis between the two in a manner both new and very, very old.

After jewelry designer, blacksmith, knife-maker, and gallery founder Ashley Childs produced her final jewelry collection, she followed a passion years in the making and launched elk & HAMMER. The innovative online gallery connects artists with one another and their respective artforms, those artforms with an audience, and that audience with a story. “We are a world of one-click shopping, everything fast and faceless,” says Childs. “But to pick up a knife every morning and butter your bread is an experience, made even more lovely when that butter knife was hand-forged by a blacksmith who spent decades refining their craft, whose story you know, whose face you’ve seen. That is a beautiful thing.”

elk & HAMMER currently features a growing body of work from sculptors, ceramicists, designers, painters, metalsmiths, and more. Each addition to the gallery represents another story in an ever-evolving tome exalting both the maker and the made. One of those makers is Childs’ oldest friend and mentor, Steve Schwarzer, a hall-of-fame bladesmith who has spent the past 50 years learning from those that came before, honing his craft, and redefining the art of mosaic Damascus steel.

U.K. leather worker and designer Otis Ingrams is similarly inspired by the godfathers of his craft and design vernacular. Ingrams established OTZI Studios in 2013 and has since been carefully handcrafting distinctive British, Spanish, and Italian utility goods.

Otis Ingrams, two Quarto Leather Baskets in tan and black. Photo by Mitchell D. Cohen

T.A.G. (Tom) Smith taught himself the deep-rooted art of intarsia as a teenager, slowly curating the craft into a unique celebration of the feathers and fowl he has loved just as long. Smith’s hanging wooden sculptures marry the natural artistry of wood grain with his own brand of inspired vision.

Genso and Asemi Co.—two Japanese enterprises connecting Bizen pottery with households worldwide—showcase the finest in traditional Japanese craftsmanship and the range of makers reimagining its centuries-old presence for the contemporary world.

Contemporary design innovation is at the heart of British luxury brand founder and creative director Tom Dixon’s vision. An industry maverick since the 1980s, Dixon’s furniture, lighting, and accessories aim to demonstrate the transformative nature of art in utilitarian contexts.

Whether it’s fine jewelry from Kabana or Kurtulan, knives and tools from Banshu Hamono or Messermeister, Kindrie Grove’s bronze sculptures or Nest Homeware’s cast iron kitchenware, the elk & HAMMER gallery hopes to offer an evocative, globally-informed collection that inspires presence and connection with shared stories of everyday life, through traditions dating back to humanity’s inception.

Visit elkandhammer.com to view the gallery and follow them on Instagram @elkandhammer.

You can also find more stories and videos on elk & HAMMER’s Vimeo and YouTube.

Steve Schwarzer, mosaic Damascus gentleman’s folders with gold lip pearl, with canister mosaic Damascus Wharncliffe blades. All photos by Ashley Childs unless otherwise specified

T.A.G. (Tom) Smith of the U.K., “Great Grey Owl Tail Feather” in ash, walnut, sycamore, and Swiss pear wood

Genso, Sangiri and Goma mugs, cups, and Saki cup

Tom Dixon, Brass Bash Bowl & Tray and Large Aluminum Cloud Bowl

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Discover a Global Collective of Artisans and Makers at elk & HAMMER appeared first on Colossal.