Artist indexing, auctions and artwork lease among innovations in Lithuanian art market

KLAIPEDA - The economic downturn has shaken up many businesses, but, quite unexpectedly, art entrepreneurship has been showing resilience, as new art galleries spring up in these severe times. However, the implication is not that crisis-stricken Lithuanians rush to art galleries to quench their thirst for art. The reason is quite simple, as many property owners would rather let local artists use the empty space, quite often free of charge, than to keep the premises deserted. In this way, several new art galleries have opened in Klaipeda, Kaunas and, recently, in Vilnius.

Lithuanian galleries vary in many aspects, however, only the ones backed up by other income-generating activity and implementing innovations see better prospects during the downturn. All those running on their own are barely surviving, which is the consequence of the crisis.

In summer, galleries usually pick up as more potential art buyers, including foreigners, pop in. However, last summer and this season have been quite sluggish, as the previous customers have vanished. Owners of art galleries complain that, recently, they see only window-shoppers.

“Now it is the time of waiting. We face two possibilities. Either we will go bankrupt, or somehow manage to get through,” Alge Gyliene, co-owner of the art gallery Kauno langas, acknowledged recently to a daily. She maintains that a few years ago, artwork prices were quite high, however, as real estate prices tumble, artwork prices have remained nearly the same.

“No buyer wants to pay as much as we are asking. We cannot slash the prices, as the acquired paintings are dearly bought. Many previous art buyers and collectors have been through hard times, hoping for better times to come. Those who may want to buy an art piece are cautious, as it might be quite difficult to sell the item in the short term. In addition, for many compatriots, an investment into cut-price real estate seems to be more reliable than investing in artwork,” the art entrepreneur pointed out.

Arvydas Zalpys, head of Lithuania’s Painters Union Gallery and art gallery Meno parkas, emphasizes that “An artwork is not a commodity of common necessity.” Thus, consequently, with the decreased purchasing power, people tend to put off their purchase. “Earlier, we used to sell a good deal of artwork price-tagged from 2,000 to 4,000 litas (1,160 euros) an item. However, nowadays, most potential art buyers tend to pay no more than 500 - 600 litas for a painting. We just cannot afford to sell the items for that price,” he asserts.

According to him, before the crisis Lithuanians preferred buying canvasses, as they are generally considered to be more marketable. Nowadays buyers tend to obtain a lower priced graphic artwork. In his galleries, the artworks of Marius Liugaila and Egidijus Rudinskas, famous Lithuanian graphic artists, are being sold, on average, for 300 - 400 litas a piece. Zalpys regrets that the only criterion for an artwork is the price, something that distorts the true essence of art.

The 150 square meter gallery ‘Pilis’ recently opened in a medieval gothic building in the heart of Vilnius. Its director, Danguole Stachura, maintains that the gallery is going to be quite different, as its artwork is exhibited mark-up free, thus allowing the sale of the canvasses, watercolors and contemporary art pieces for the price set by their begetters.
“We charge a 10 – 20 percent commission for each artwork sold; however, we soon plan to introduce the so-called lease tax, which is something common abroad. Then we will charge artists only for letting them exhibit their works in our gallery. Also, when looking ahead, we are planning to lease the artwork for a certain period of time. This kind of practice is quite popular abroad, but it is a new thing in Lithuania. We have already leased a few paintings for TV shows,” Stachura said, sharing her innovations with The Baltic Times.

Though she admits the downturn is hitting hard, the art entrepreneur is convinced that ‘Pilis’ will manage to get through, as the gallery is located in the heart of Vilnius and is attracting numerous foreigners. The gallery exhibits mostly works of Lithuanian artists.

Art experts in unison maintain that today is the best time to obtain a valuable artwork for a reasonable price, as most artists struggling to make ends meet are forced to sell their works for a miserable price. The trend applies to struggling art collectors as well, as they, in order to survive, have no choice but to sell their only assets - artworks. Art dealers point out that the overwhelming ‘save more’ fuss has penetrated into art dealership as well - scarce art buyers persistently ask for a discount.

In this gloomy situation the international art fair “Art Vilnius 2009” has been a standout event, drawing art collectors from all over. Some rich collectors paid as much as 35,000 litas for the works of the prominent Lithuanian painter Vytautas Kasiulis. However, most visitors to the fair reserved their purchases for better times. Lithuanian emigrants, a significant part of the clientele of the art galleries, are in the saving mode as well.

Simona Makseliene, director of Art Market Agency, the only establishment that specializes in arranging art auctions and which is credited for bringing a good deal of exuberance to the Lithuanian art market, staved off pessimism while talking to The Baltic Times. “You cannot generalize all art galleries, as they differ in size, respectability, capacity and their approaches. No doubt, the general trends have been downward, particularly through 2008 and the first half of 2009.

However, starting in the fall of 2009, until now, we have been witnessing some signs of recovery in the art market. It proves that those good artworks are crisis-prone. Many expected that the hardship-stricken artists would put out their best works at reduced prices; however, these expectations have not been entirely true,” Makseliene asserted.

When reviewing the results of the auctions, she has concluded that Lithuanian art buyers tend to be “rather conservative, favoring the Kaunas art school, which embodies the conservative style.” She adds, that “Lithuanian art lovers choose the artworks of Vilnius art school of the 19th century.” She claims that it is quite difficult to find artwork of that period on sale.

According to Makseliene, the Lithuanian art market, besides being conservative, for the most part features only local artists, as there is no big demand for works of foreign artists. The art entrepreneur explains this, emphasizing “The artistic taste of Lithuanians has been largely influenced by our insularity due to the known historic circumstances. Our ancestors, who at home often exhibited the renowned works of such Lithuanian masters as Zmuidzinavicius and Kalpokas, perished at war or in exile. Therefore, a whole generation of art lovers has been lost. It makes no sense to speak about maintaining the heritage and universality of art during the Soviet times. As the generation of independent Lithuania, we are just evolving, opening up the possibilities and the world. I am convinced that it is a matter of time when Lithuanian art lovers will discover conceptual art or sculptures. However, there are some very interesting art collections out there. We do have some very interesting, far reaching art creators,” says the auctioneer optimistically.

Acknowledging the significantly reduced purchasing power today, the businessperson disagrees with the notion that a whole set of previous art buyers has been lost. She asserts that only the art buyers related to heavily crisis-impacted sectors, such as real estate and finance, have gone. However, according to her, all major high-income collectors have been little affected by the downturn. “On the contrary, a few big players have emerged in the market as they buy up artworks on a large scale. Since the Lithuanian art market is tiny, we all feel their impact. What saddens me most is the withdrawal of the middle-class representatives from the market,” says Makseliene regretfully.

Though the general price trend has been in decline for the last years, the first half of 2010 brings some hope, as the average artwork sale at the auctions inches up, on average reaching a bit over 3,400 litas per item. The most expensive deal - the sale of Niesiolowski’s work, with an initial bid of 11,000 litas - was the auction’s all-time record high, rocketing to the final bid of 39,000 litas. According to the art dealer, the art market, different from other market segments, reacts to the shake-up somewhat passively, with not that much sensitivity.

Art Market Agency is the only art establishment in the country that publicly announces its sales and, more importantly, indexes its represented artists according to their artwork sales. “No other art gallery does that in Lithuania. I consider it to be very important, as only public sales data can objectively set real prices of an artwork,” Makseliene points out. The largest worldwide e-auction organizer, www.artpiece.com, has enrolled Art Market Agency as its partner. Are you wondering which Lithuanian artists are the most sought-after? Art Market Agency reveals its auction data to everyone, placing Simonis on top, (sales totaled 63,000 litas), Jankauskas-Kampas (55,800 litas) as a runner-up, followed by Galdikas ( 41,900 litas).