Sasha and Anya Emelyanovs’ collection

HOW DID YOUR COLLECTION BEGIN?

Anya: Our art collection started in 2017 when Sasha gifted me a ZUKCLUB silk screen painting inspired by Henri Matisse's "Dance" on New Year's Eve. However, our true collection began to take shape during the quarantine period when we started purchasing artwork from the "Tikhaya" studio. Prior to that, our art purchases were spontaneous and unplanned.

WHAT SPARKED YOUR PASSION FOR BUYING AND COLLECTING ART?

Sasha: I have been collecting various items since childhood, so I have always had a penchant for gathering things. Eventually, I developed an interest in art and culture within our country. This passion started to grow when I was exposed to online media, such as "Look at me," which showcased the vast size and diversity of our country.

Initially, my fascination was with music, as I collected audio tapes and read literature on the subject. In 2014, I stumbled upon an issue of "Afisha" magazine titled "In Search of Russian Soul," which featured an article about the "Tikhaya" studio in Nizhny Novgorod. I was drawn to their work and wanted to purchase some of their pieces, but at that time, I didn't think it was possible. Unfortunately, I missed out on purchasing some of Filatov's earlier, less expensive works that are now worth much more.

It wasn't until I came across a social media group in Russia where artwork was exhibited and sold that I realized art was something I could purchase. I bought my first piece at the New Year's print market "The Taste of Paper" in late 2016, which was a gift for Anya. Sergey Ovseykin from "ZUKCLUB" taught me that the numbers on the pieces indicate their order, and I should choose the most attractive one. I remember considering a colored silk print, but it was already sold to someone else.

Anya: And it's a lesson for us: if we like it very much, we should buy it!

Sasha: Unfortunately, we missed out on many pieces this way since we tend to overthink our purchases. We sometimes feel like we don't have enough money and end up hesitating, only to miss the opportunity to buy the piece later. This often leads to regretting not purchasing the artwork when we had the chance.

Our purchases are typically spontaneous, based on whether or not it fits within our budget at that moment. We tend to buy things immediately if we can afford them. However, planning for purchases is more challenging since we may have already made spontaneous purchases by that point. As a result, we may struggle to find something we want to buy later on.

HOW DID YOU LIFE CHANGE WHEN ART TOOK ITS PLACE IN IT?

Anya: Our surroundings have changed completely. We met a whole lot more awesome friends and acquaintances. Our home began to transform in the most wonderful way. Besides, when you start collecting something, it pushes your individuality forward: the collection becomes a reflection of yourself.

Sasha: Yes, I would agree on that. Your home becomes more personal, you have some new people appearing in your surroundings, new communication, events. All of that fits in your life in a cool way and changes it. For example, the trips to other cities become related to art and artists.

Anya: In fact, we always have new ideas appearing! Like, how we should decorate our house or what we should do with our collection next. I think these changes started not too long ago, in 2021.

Sasha: They started with our trip to Krasnodar in 2021, to visit the “Bridge” auction. We had a very great time there, because we really felt all those changes ourselves. Natasha Korechenko, from the "Tikhaya" gallery in Nizhny Novgorod, encouraged us to visit the "Typography" and it was there that we met her in person. That night, we had a tour of Krasnodar and met various artists, including those from the "ZIP" art group. This experience had a significant impact on us, and we began to visit studios and meet with artists more frequently. Posting our collection on Instagram also influenced our collecting habits. We received many positive comments and reactions and connected with new people. Additionally, the Instagram page serves as an archive, allowing us to keep track of the pieces we own. However, with around 60-70 artworks stored in an unmarked cabinet, it can be challenging to keep everything organized.

Anya: Yeah, the Instagram account was a surprise, because such not lifelike pages usually don’t get that much attention. And for us it really was a flow of new followers. There are not too many of them, but they are of good quality. It’s very joyful, when artists, heads of institutions visit your page and give likes!

WHAT LED TO YOUR DECISION TO CREATE A PAGE OF YOUR COLLECTION ON INSTAGRAM?

Sasha: We got inspired by Rustam and Natasha Korechenko. Then I noticed an account of Anton Belov’s collection in their subscribers, and he started liking us too, even though we had only 5-6 pieces published on our page, and we felt some pleasant recognition at the moment!

BACK AT THAT AUCTION IN KRASNODAR, HAVE YOU PURCHASED SOMETHING?

Sasha: We didn’t buy anything from that auction, but just before going there, we went to the “Redgift” gallery and bought a jumping ceramic jaguar by “ZIP” art group.

Anya: We didn’t plan on purchasing anything at all that day, but couldn’t leave without that jaguar.

HOW DO YOU DECIDE BETWEEN YOU TWO WHAT TO BUY NEXT? DO YOU HAVE SOME ARGUMENTS POPPING UP?

Anya: Our taste in art is mostly similar, although there are some pieces that I prefer more than Sasha does, and vice versa. Typically, we discuss all potential purchases together. However, Sasha is primarily responsible for buying art, and the collection is more his passion than mine. He often discovers new artists and introduces their work to me, offering to buy a piece. Occasionally, I also come across an artist or artwork that catches my attention.

Sasha: Anya is in control! She decides who we should buy.

Anya: Sasha has a more keen eye for that, and I make purchases more based on intuition.

Sasha: Yes, I spend more time on artists’ pages, look at their posts, keep track of their sales offerings, follow the prices and try to guess the way in which their art will evolve.

Anya: I’m not able to calculate all that, therefore I lean on my internal feelings: whether I like something or not.

WHEN I WAS READING YOUR ARTICLE “WHY ART COSTS THIS MUCH”, I WAS SURPRISED BY YOUR PROFOUND APPROACH! IS IT A HOBBY FOR YOU?

Anya: I guess there is some kind of excitement, when you manage to buy something before it shoots the stars. Besides, it’s great to possess the artwork of the artist when you bought it during their early career stage, when they were not this popular. It’s like you’re opening something completely new to this world.

Sasha: If we had more financial resources, we would take our art collecting even more seriously. One of my aspirations is to purchase artists' archives, such as notebooks or sketchbooks with their original works. For instance, I once acquired a notebook with some of Chtak's sketches, and it's satisfying to see how these rough ideas developed into silk prints and eventually into completed artworks. In the future, I hope to acquire large collections of artwork.

DO YOU PLAN YOUR NEXT PURCHASES AND THE BUDGET FOR THAT?

Sasha: We don’t have a set monthly budget for art purchases, as it all happens spontaneously. We assess whether we can comfortably afford a piece before buying it. We don't typically stick to a strict budget, as there are often unplanned purchases.

For example, when Chtak hosted a garage sale, I had a feeling that it might not happen again soon, so I brought extra money and ended up buying several pieces, including graphics, a notebook, and a large carton piece. I didn't plan on making all those purchases! The sale required bargaining with Chtak's son, which felt like a game. We collected the pieces we wanted, put them in front of the artist's son, and negotiated the price by adding or subtracting pieces. It was very spontaneous and exciting, even though I realize that bargaining is not always the best way to purchase art. However, if the situation is suitable, then why not?

ARE THERE SOME AUTHORS YOU DREAM ABOUT PURCHASING? SOME BIG NAMES MAYBE?

Anya: Pivovarov!

Sasha: I’d like to buy Mamyshev-Monroe.

Anya: Yeah, I’d be glad to get some of his works too.

WHY THEM EXACTLY?

Sasha: I love Mamyshev-Monroe's series "The Tales of the Lost Time". Once, I saw one of these works on Craigslist and regretted not buying it. It was priced at 85,000 rubles, but during quarantine, it dropped to 55,000 rubles. However, it had "Happy Birthday!" written on the front, which made me hesitant. I didn't think it was cool at the time. Later, I saw the exact same piece at Cosmoscow being sold for 10,000 dollars, but it also had marks and scratches on it.

We also regret not buying an artwork that was a plate with a drawing of a frog and a cup with a crown on it. The ad said it was by Mamyshev-Monro, but we thought it was suspicious because we couldn't find any of his works that looked like it. Since we had just started collecting at that time and thought that 12,000 rubles was too little to ask for a Mamyshev-Monro piece, we didn't buy it. Then we stumbled upon a photo on Taus Makhacheva's Instagram of her drinking tea from the same cup! It was a huge miss.

Anya: And I’d like to get one of the pieces by Pivovarov, because we saw his works at the first “Garage” exhibition that we had attended with Sasha.

ARE THERE SOME COLLECTIONS THAT YOU LIKE?

Anya: I like the collections of Anton Belov, Rustam and Natalya Korechenko. Though almost every collection has a couple of pieces I’d be happy to possess.

Sasha: That’s the thing with collecting: there is always something that you don’t have and you can’t have ever, if it’s not a printing edition. When you collect stamps or coins, probably the ones you collected will be in someone else’s collection too, and in art it’s very individual. So, yes, every collection that is similar to our taste, has some pieces that we like.

Anya: I hope somebody says the same thing about our collection too!

HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR COLLECTION IN 50 YEARS?

Anya: I definitely want it to exist!

Sasha: I’d like our collection to partly turn into a modern art archive. Everything should be organized, maybe stored in a separate building: all the graphics, sketches, with dates marked on them, names of all authors, some interviews and articles added to the pieces.

Anya: Yes, I would love for our collection to have a broader impact on both ourselves and the larger cultural community. Perhaps we could create a space for people and studios for artists, we dream global!

ARE YOU FOCUSED ONLY ON RUSSIAN ART?

Sasha: Yes, it turns out to be this way because we live here, and we want to cultivate the local culture. We want to support things which are not supported by the government and have an ability to help and develop. Maybe we can inspire others to buy art too.

WHAT WAS YOUR THE MOST LUCKY AND THE MOST EXPENSIVE PURCHASE?

Anya: We have to think a bit, what it means to be the most lucky. It might be lucky because its price went up, or we found a good friend by connecting with the artist that created it. The most expensive one is the piece by the “ZIP” art group.

Sasha: The most lucky in terms of price and quality is the piece “Trash can near the entrance” by Zina Isupova, we acquired it at the “Vyruchai” auction. Moscow was limited by quarantine back then, and the action transformed from offline to online. It was also very poorly promoted, so not too many people knew about it, and that’s why we were lucky enough to purchase this piece.

When we arrived at the action space, it was already the second day of the event, and it turned out that Zina’s work wasn’t even sold during the first day, though the starting price was just 30 thousand rubles. It was strange, because at that time Zina already was exhibiting the “Trash cans” series at the “Garage” museum, but still, nobody purchased it yet. We managed to buy the painting for 35 thousand rubles, and we also were able to decorate it with a good quality museum glass and oak frame. In the beginning of the (here was a word forbidden by Russian legislation) such works by Zina costed around 80 thousand rubles on “Smart Art”, but pretty soon she took them all from that platform and ceased any partnership with russian institutions which haven’t shown any anti(-war) position. Now it’s very difficult to purchase her pieces in Russia. I’m not even sure if there are still some of her works left in Russia, because she seemed to have taken all of them when she left.

The second piece, which is lucky in terms of price and friendship, is the work of Anna Samoylova. We stumbled upon her artworks on Instagram and decided to buy them right away, while they were not too expensive yet. We purchased one of the first pieces with embroidment on canvas, and then Anya invited us to her house. We are still in a very good relationship. It was a good bargain, because later we were able to purchase even more of her works, but the main part is that now we have a wonderful friend!

Anya: By the way, the works of Anya and Zina are my mother's favorite!

IS THERE A PURCHASE THAT YOU HAVE NEVER DONE AND YOU REGRET IT THE MOST?

Sasha: There’s a lot of such misses! First of all, we definitely should have bought that Mamyshev-Monroe on craigslist. Second, we should have bought all works by “Tikhaya” studio when they posted them on Yandex.Zen: the works were awesome, and they are not selling them at such low prices any more. We should have purchased the pieces by ZIna Isupova before she left. The list goes on and on. If you are into collecting, you will always have such a list. The collection may contain a hundred pieces, but the misses may count in a thousand!

Well, we have a list of artists which works we’d like to buy, but we never really have an opportunity to stick to it, because the budget is always starting to run low on spontaneous purchases.

Anya: I think that’s the thing with our collection: we buy art spontaneously.

Sasha: Yes, maybe if we had a bigger budget, we would be able to stick to the plan and make some random purchases at the same time. On the other hand, If you have more money, you will also spend it more on the pieces that are more expensive. Maybe that’s the essence of collecting: you’re always short of money. It pushes you to choose wisely, filtering the things you can’t afford. It appears to me that big money might make a collection dull.

I THINK THE UNLIMITED AMOUNT OF MONEY KILLS THE EXCITEMENT, YOU STOP RUSHING TO BUY THE ARTIST’S PIECE WHILE IT’S CHEAP, SINCE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO AFFORD IT EVEN FIVE YEARS LATER!

Anya: Yes, besides, when you buy some artist during the start of their career, it’s nice to see the artist evolve and become more expensive. You get to realize that you chose them for a reason.

WHAT ADVICE CAN YOU GIVE TO THE BEGINNING COLLECTORS?

Anya: In order to buy art, you have to just get up and start buying it. There’s nothing to fear.

Sasha: The budget at the start of collecting can be zero, all you need is desire. You can ask your friends to gift you with an artwork on your birthday, for example. The budget is definitely not the problem with collecting, and it appears that not too many people realize how affordable and easy it is.

Anya: Yeah, the main question is more like, how to stop?

Sasha: Now I know that if I realized back then that I was able to buy, for example, the works by Filatov, my collection would be much bigger and cooler. I feel sorry for not having a realization of how easy it was back then. Another thing that has an influence on that, in my opinion, is the inaccessibility of galleries. People start to buy art only when they stumble upon the websites that show a strict price for pieces.

Anya: That works not only with galleries, but with all marketing too. The “we’ll send the price in Direct or by e-mail” stuff is not appealing at all. Even worse when you have to call a gallery or visit it to buy the piece. The simpler the process, the more people buy. Maybe it’s a reason for people purchasing the IKEA posters: you just come, choose, buy and hear it is, already framed and ready to be hung on the wall.

DO YOU THINK RUSSIAN PLATFORMS TEND TO SIMPLIFY THE ART BUYING PROCESS?

Anya: I think there’s no limit to perfection. But if you compare the current state with, for instance, 2017, then yes, we have made great progress.

Sasha: Back in 2017 we had only “SAMPLE”, I guess. I remember visiting their website from time to time, but never really purchased anything.

Anya: Yeah, I remember visiting a lot of exhibitions and looking at art.

Sasha: By the way, I think it's easier to buy art when you can look at the other collectors’ experiences. When you come to the museum and realize that it’s not a gigantic museum collection, but pieces from private collections. Or when you see such examples on Instagram!