Tatiana Stolyar’s collection

collector stories

Author: Marina Antsiperova

Photos: Valeria Shustval

08 April, 2022

Many people believe that collecting art is only for high-ranking executives in large banks, but that is a misconception. Prints and graphics of young artists' works can cost as much as a dinner for two at an affordable Moscow café. In this section, we would like to highlight success stories of our peers who have managed to build impressive art collections. Our first featured collector is Tatiana Stolyar, one of the founders of the Telegram channel "Antiglyanets", whose collection has been highly sought-after by many artists for a long time.

MARINA: How did it all start for you? How many years have you been busy collecting art? I remember finding out about your collection when it was already quite big.

TATIANA: I started collecting art spontaneously. Although I worked in the cultural sphere and always had an interest in art, I never asked gallery workers about prices because I assumed they would be "very expensive," and I wouldn't have the means to buy any artwork. However, three or four years ago at Cosmoscow, I saw Serezha Guschin's "Fragment" gallery stand and greeted one of the gallery workers. That's when I saw Danini's tapestry, the famous "Don't step out of the room, don't make a mistake" series. My colleague at Esquire was writing an article about the tapestry at the time, and I realized that I liked it even more in person. After a few drinks at the opening event, I decided to ask about the price and found out it was just about the same as my monthly salary. After considering it, I decided to take the plunge and use my entire salary to purchase the artwork. That was the beginning of my art collection. Eventually, I became friends with Guschin and now own five different pieces from the Fragment gallery.

MARINA: I’ll give you that: there are not too many collectors that I follow to learn new names from them. It’s obvious that I’m interested in what Anton Belov and the collectors of his level acquire, but apart from you, there are maybe just a couple of other collectors whose choice of art is interesting for me. How do you find new names? You seem to purchase many artists even before their first exhibition.

TATIANA: You’re making me shy. I can’t say that I spend my time sitting and researching: it’s more like a part of my lifestyle. I may find something in your channel, at my friends, or come to an exhibition and stumble upon a new name. It all happens naturally. I don’t have a goal of finding and discovering, like many other collectors do, hence I just follow my instinct. And I don’t rush for investments too, even though Danini’s piece has doubled in price since the time I started to buy her works. Currently I buy art based on my “like/don’t like” feelings.

MARINA: But still, there is an algorithm for making such choices. I understand, for example, which piece I can show to you and you will purchase it. The vibe that the artist should have in order for you to become interested in their art. Do you have an explanation for that kind of thing?

TATIANA: You say it first!

MARINA: I think you’re interested in unusual media: there are ceramics in your collection, along with tennis balls and tapestry. I guess a classic landscape with sunflowers on it has a very little chance of ending up on one of your walls. You also don’t feel too excited about some luxury esthetic things and gloss works, artificially beautiful and soft. I would say, you like ironical stuff about the truth of life, in a raw kind of style.

TATIANA: Yes, I love ironic things, something that can be related to punk. I have one installation, the materials for which were collected in a dump, and I find it very funny.

MARINA: So, the keywords would be: irony, weird materials and roughness preferred to perfectionism. At the same time I see that you don’t seem to like any particular school or age, because Emma Gonzales is still very young, while Abikh is older, and you have some grown-ups in your collection too! It turns out this way, that you have different kinds of artists in your collection, and it relates to your museum career too.

TATIANA: It’s true. It’s important for me, to feel a resonance inside me, the interlacement with my life. To have something recognizable in these works. For example, why do I have a tennis theme in my collection? Because I love tennis. I just wanted to add such a theme to underline that I have that in my life too. Furthermore, I currently commission artworks in advance from artists. I already possess three works that were made to order, and I am planning to showcase them at an exhibition in the future.

MARINA: Oh, that’s cool.

TATIANA: I work in the following manner: I contact an artist that I admire and provide them with a broad theme to work with. The artists then create their artwork in their own way. I have acquired pieces from Ira Butkovskaya, Artem Filatov and Lekha G. using this approach, and I have also discovered new artists for future projects.

MARINA: Do you consider becoming a curator?

TATIANA: If I finish this project, I will definitely acquire that role too. Now I’m not a curator in a full sense. Just a collector yet.

MARINA: I started collecting art when I stopped working as a journalist because I was constantly moving from one place to another, eight times in two years. I couldn't afford to gather things, as the apartments were always different and some of them exposed the pieces to direct sunlight, causing them to get lost or damaged. But now that I have settled down, I enjoy the responsibility that comes with my collection. It's a pleasure to take care of it and make sure that each piece is displayed in the best possible way.

TATIANA: I am lucky now: my apartment is suitable for making a collection. But the space is running out already. I will have to think twice next time when I come up with a desire to buy a large scale painting. Now I am thinking about purchasing a sculpture, since I have only a few objects. The space seems to be making the rules too.

MARINA: I feel like asking about the amount of money you spend on art is not too ethical. Maybe you could just share the structure of your expenses? Do you have a dedicated part of your income for that? Do you save money to make purchases in the future? Would you borrow some money to buy a painting?

TATIANA: I have a definite sum of money that I spend on art monthly. This month, I purchased Abikh, and I won’t purchase any more art until next month. But regarding the currency rates, I am able to buy less art than before. I was able to buy twice as much some time ago.

MARINA: If the amount of money is measured with Abikh’s piece, then it’s not bad. Do you help the artists during the hard times? Do you make some special effort in order to support them? For instance, if your artists get in touch with you and ask if you’d like to buy something from them.

TATIANA: Not really, they don’t get in touch with me that way. But I can’t even tell that I’m close friends with any of them. We are just glad to see each other when we get a chance. But I can say that during the last month I get works of unfamiliar artists sent to my Instagram.

MARINA: It’s great. The market will be struggling these times.

TATIANA: Yes, it’s very complicated now. I think that art will survive, and we should support it. That’s why I won’t stop my purchasing process.

MARINA: By the way, are you ready to sell something from your collection? To have the ability to buy something new, for example.

TATIANA: The tastes change constantly. But generally, I like everything that I have bought. Even the pieces that don’t seem to fit into the flow of the collection: I wanted to acquire Exantres for a long time, and when I finally did, people started telling me that it’s too tender for my collection. Well, it means that it was chosen by the tender part of me!

MARINA: Do you pull your friends and colleagues into collecting too?

TATIANA: I managed to pull Yulia Posh in. She purchased three pieces from Guschin. The first was chosen by me: Yulia broke up with her boyfriend back then and was sitting at home being sad, she didn’t even come to Serezha’s opening event. And then I noticed a work by Dasha Kuznetsova at the exhibition, the red and furious, and I called Yulia and said she had to purchase it immediately. That means, yes, I try to pull my colleagues into collecting step by step.

MARINA: I know that you buy art not only at markets and galleries, but at auctions too. Are you a gambling person in general?

TATIANA: Extremely. That’s why I try to not come too close to auctions most of the time, being aware of my passion. I started participating in auctions recently, and managed to buy this Abikh’s piece. Later I received messages from a girl that was contesting me in that particular auction, and it was cool to keep raising the bets. I definitely must stay away from gambling machines, that’s for sure.

MARINA: And the last question. Do you dream of acquiring somebody of the big names, like Kabakov, Rothko, or Bulatov?

TATIANA: I’m craving Kabakov’s works very badly.

MARINA: His little drawings were constantly appearing at Vladey, by the way.

TATIANA: Yeah, I’ve seen them too, I’ll be looking forward to acquiring them in the future.

collector stories

Author: Marina Antsiperova

Photos: Valeria Shustval

08 April, 2022