Viktor Babariko's Art Collection is Being Sold Off with Significant Discounts. But Without His Most Valuable Work
Viktor Babariko's collection is being sold off for almost nothing. Paintings, which were recently valued at hundreds of thousands of rubles, are now going under the hammer for significantly less. The announcements are published on the 'BelYurZabespyachenne' website. But the main loss is not in the price: the fate of Marc Chagall's work, which was most precious to the ex-banker, is unknown, writes 'Zerkalo'.
Arrested paintings from Viktor Babariko's collection, put up for auction. Collage of photos from e-auction.by website
Paintings from the personal collection of ex-banker and political prisoner Viktor Babariko are once again going under the hammer. Initially, the value of 19 works was estimated at a total of 344 thousand rubles. Later, some artworks were sold, while others were not. Now they are offered at prices significantly lower than the initial valuation.
For example, the most expensive lot put up for auction — the work 'Harlequin' by the French-Polish artist Eugeniusz Zak — was initially offered for 99,312 rubles. Now the starting price has dropped to 39,724.8 rubles.
'Bouquet of Flowers' by the same author was initially attempted to be sold for 66,208 rubles. Now its price has been reduced to 26,483.2 rubles.
'Landscape' by Michel Kikoine was exhibited for 56,277 rubles. His 'Apple Trees' — for 49,656. Now the first painting is sold at a price starting from 22,510.8 rubles, and the second — from 19,862.4 rubles.
In a recent interview with 'TOK', Viktor Babariko said that among all the paintings in his personal collection, he considered Marc Chagall's color lithograph 'Jacob's Ladder' to be the most valuable to him:
"I simply really like the subject itself — and it hung in my bedroom. I probably regret its loss the most… That it was taken and sold," Babariko confessed.
Poster with an image of Marc Chagall's lithograph 'Jacob's Ladder'. Photo: artsy.net
It is worth noting that Chagall revisited the subject of 'Jacob's Ladder' several times, depicting it with various methods and materials. It is probable that the ex-banker's collection might have included a 1977 lithograph.
Meanwhile, among the artworks from the ex-banker's collection put up for auction on the 'BelYurZabespyachenne' platform, there was no 'Jacob's Ladder' or any other work by Chagall. The fate of the arrested painting is unknown.
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