The Icon Market and Fakes: Interview with Experts
What is the present-day state of the icon market? How common are fakes, and how are they detected? The editorial staff of Russian Icon Collection has discussed all these issues with experts–museum professionals and collectors.
Anna Ivannikova
Registrar of the collection of late Russian icon painting at the State Hermitage Museum
On the icon market
Today, as always, the main participants in the icon market are private collectors, the vast majority of whom are from Russia. Western icon collections were formed mainly during the Soviet period when a significant number of icons were exported abroad. Now, these collections are not replenished as actively as they were a few decades ago. Hand-painted icons are rarely bought abroad. Nevertheless, there are some large acquisitions. For example, last year, the Louvre acquired an early 20th-century folding icon into its collection, which was made on the order of “P. I. Olovyanishnikov’s Sons.”
On fakes
The production of fakes expanded in the 19th century as the demand for Russian icons grew. The first large icon collections were initiated at that time, and, accordingly, a market for fakes emerged.
One can determine the 19th-century fakes with the help of technical and technological appraisal. Masters of that time used contemporary pigments unavailable in the 15th-16th centuries. However, the quality of fakes also varied from primitive to highly sophisticated. To this day, you can come across icons at major museums such as the Tretyakov Gallery or the Russian Museum, which were previously considered ancient but are facing authenticity doubts today based on the latest research findings.
Today’s fakes can be created at a very high technological level. Counterfeiters study modern research and quite successfully apply this information in their business, using ancient boards and pigments corresponding to a particular century and creating craquelure with the help of special equipment. Therefore, such fakes are difficult to detect with the help of technical and technological appraisals. In such cases, the solution to the problem belongs to expert knowledge, observation, and intuition. Ancient icons are very individual, and modern forgers often lack the knowledge or imagination to create a unique work. Their work is usually a set of elements from different icons, which an expert is sure to notice.
As for forgeries of expensive icons of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, created by such famous masters as Osip Chirikov, Mikhail Dikarev, or Vasily Guryanov, today’s forgers simply lack the technical base to mimic them. Masters of the past painted icons from childhood and often specialized in certain elements: one painted the faces, another worked on inscriptions, and the third finalized the clothing. Thanks to this division of work and many years of practice, they achieved the highest level of mastery, which is inaccessible to our contemporaries. Even restoration experts admit that they would not be able to reproduce the painting work at the same level. Therefore, an expert can identify fakes, as a rule.
On the export of icons
Cultural property export, and the export of icons in particular, is prohibited in Russia as in any other country. If an icon was inherited or bought in Russia, you have no right to export it, as it is the cultural property of the Russian Federation. However, if the icon was acquired abroad, for example, at an auction, and ended up in Russia under a temporary import permit, you have the right to take it back.
Sergei Khodorkovskiy
Collector, expert in Old Russian painting
On the formation of the Russian icon market
The icon market in Russia has gone through several stages of development. In the 1970s, it practically didn’t exist; there were only a few artists and collectors. In the late 1980s, the Western collector community exhibited mass interest in icons, and they began to be actively smuggled abroad because they were very cheap in monetary terms during that period. You could buy a high-quality icon for $150-200 while buying similar artwork abroad would cost you tenfold. Masterpieces of the 15th-16th centuries were sold for tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars at auctions at that time.
A variety of icons were in demand. The transit point was Germany, with icons smuggled worldwide from there. Works of the later period, 18th-19th centuries, mainly went to Poland, Italy, and Germany. Ancient icons were especially valued in the Scandinavian countries, Holland, and Belgium, where many collectors were interested in 16th-17th-century works. The USA was also a big market for icons.
The situation began to change in the 2000s, with rich collectors with impressive financial capacity emerging in Russia. This change led to many icons being imported back into the country, as the seller could get 2-3 times more for them in Russia than in the West, and the icon market witnessed a quick rise in prices. This is a fairly standard situation for any national art: it is always valued higher in the homeland. Over time, the market became more selective: the level of understanding of art grew, unique works became more expensive, and average-level items became cheaper, with demand for them falling.
On the present-day market of icons
Today, unique 15th-16th-century antiquities are especially valued on the market, although it is a narrow segment with a limited number of buyers, requiring deep knowledge and a high level of understanding of nuances. The early 20th-century icons, created in the Art Nouveau style and decorated with silver frames and enamels, also enjoy high demand. In general, masterpieces of any period find their connoisseurs and buyers, whether they are 17th-century icons of the Armory School or works by Palekh, Yaroslavl, or Mstera masters.
Private collectors are more active in the market, unlike museums that have limited funding and operate within strict budgets. Procurement in museums is a long bureaucratic process, sometimes taking months, and not every seller is willing to wait that long, while private collectors react to interesting offers instantly. Thus, if a masterpiece appears on the market, it usually finds a buyer immediately.
On fakes
There have always been and will always be fakes in art, especially when demand is high. In my practice, I often came across high-quality fakes that were quite difficult to detect. Today, however, there are technologies to recognize them, and the accumulated practical experience is also of much help. I cooperate with the State Scientific Research Institute for Restoration (GOSNIIR), which analyzes pigments and studies the composition of icon materials.
Counterfeiters invariably make mistakes because they are not always familiar with the nuances of a particular historical period’s technology. Let’s take the composition of blue pigment as an example. In the 15th century, it was an expensive azure, and from the 16th century, iconographers mainly used natural azurite, which cost much less. In the 18th century, icon painters began to use the Berlin azure, which cost even less to produce. Besides, over time, the technical methods of painting and the composition of colorful mixtures changed. All these signs allow us to date a work of art with greater accuracy, as well as to expose fakes.
Anastasia Likhenko
Art historian, expert in Old Russian painting
On the market of icons
When the demand for icons appeared in the early ‘90s, the structure of the market was gradually formed. Some players appeared over time, while others left. Today, there are a number of well-known dealers who have been professionally working with icons for many years and even decades. Besides, the market includes several significant galleries that sell first-class works in the icon market and mid-size antique dealers who specialize in décor items. The peculiarity of the icon market is that it includes participants closely associated with the church environment. For example, dealers are often asked to select a specific icon for a church. In all other aspects, its structure is typical of the art market as a whole.
On fakes
Of course, there are fakes, just as in any other segment of the market. They can be divided into two major categories. The first one is a “novodel,” or a modern replica painted in our days, sometimes on an old board. The second is the Old Believer painting of the second half of the 19th century. That period yielded a lot of antiquity stylizations. Old Believers also took old gesso or poorly preserved icons, restored them, made their own additions, and put them back on the market. There was a demand for such products in certain circles, especially among art patrons and collectors.
When an object is brought to a state museum, it often already has an opinion from an expert accredited by the Ministry of Culture. However, museums always conduct their own internal inspections. These include art research and a physical examination, which restoration experts carry out with the help of specialized equipment. Museum workers determine the degree of the object’s preservation, the painting’s authenticity, and the presence of subsequent additions.
Any state museum has the Expert Fund-Purchasing Commission (EFPC). This body, consisting of art historians, restorers, and representatives of the museum administration and the inventory department, jointly decides on whether objects should be included in the collection. The Commission votes on whether an object should be acquired, taking into account the institution’s financial resources.
On access to collections and information
Cataloging is one of the most important areas of state museum operations, along with preservation, popularization, and educational activities. All museum items are included in the unified state catalog. It has a public part and a closed part. If you have access to the closed part of the state catalog, you can familiarize yourself with all the items in the collection of a particular museum.
Private collections, unlike public collections, can be either open or closed. Some collectors prefer to publish their collections and participate in exhibitions under their own name, while others keep their collections secret, opening access only to a narrow circle of people.
Timur Valiullin
The Kazan Icon Museum
Deputy Director for Scientific Work
On fakes
The problem of fakes exists not only in museum practice related to icons but also in relation to any cultural heritage, including decorative and applied art objects. The peculiarity of icon painting lies in the fact that antique-styled icons were created in the 19th century. Many workshops of that time specialized in creating icons in ancient styles, such as Moscow, Stroganov, Yaroslavl, etc. This is a widely known fact. Numerous advertisements of the time have been preserved. It is important to distinguish between such stylizations and modern “novodel,” which unscrupulous traders are trying to sell under the guise of ancient icons.
An expert will easily recognize a fake, often even with a simple visual inspection, without the use of special equipment. Sometimes, even a photo is enough to determine whether the icon is a modern replica or an ancient work, especially if we are talking about pre-revolutionary works. The fact is that creating a high-quality fake requires extensive knowledge and skills of an art historian, restorer, and artist. Therefore, the expenditures for producing such work may not pay off for counterfeiters.
It’s well-known that ancient icons often have several painting layers belonging to different centuries. In such cases, the information about old records and the possibility of their detection, for example, with the help of macrography in the infrared spectrum, is usually indicated during attribution or examination. Traces of renovations and the time to which they belong are also noted. Priority is given to early layers. For example, the wording can be as follows, “A 16th-century icon with 19th-century renovations.” If there is almost nothing left of the original 16th-century painting, and the icon was completely repainted in the 19th century on an old board, it will be described as “A 19th-century painting on the 16th-century icon board.”