04 Jun Mikhail Kavitsky: “Paintings from my collection are a part of my private living space”

We spoke to a well-known businessman and collector Mikhail Kavitsky about collecting works of art and creating your own space.

From the very beginning the whole Ukrainian business community has been bound to art. Naturally, I would like to devote more time to it, but it’s a very expensive hobby. You need to have quite a lot of money and spare time to do collecting seriously.

I never estimated the value of our family collection. But I maintain the catalogue. Thanks to Vladimir Kadygrob – it was he who taught me how to do it, to systematize correctly. For me collecting is a long-term project. I think that in the near future we will pay more attention to it. We’ve become very good friends with Vladimir. I have profound respect for him and think of him as a very deep person. Young guys like him are those who will change the destiny of our country.

When choosing an artwork, I rely on one important criterion – the purpose of buying. If I need a design object for my apartment – it’s one thing, but when it comes to purchasing a piece of art with a decent cultural value – it’s completely different situation. In the latter case you shouldn’t be guided by your own tastes, e.g. whether you like a painting or not.

Paintings from my collection are the part of my private living space. And right now I am not very pleased with it. I’m thinking over ways of hanging elsewhere my paintings. The fact is we never stop changing. It’s impossible to move forward without it. I would like to upgrade exposition more often. But I need to change myself to do it.

From the very beginning I treated art like business. Who is the most important [artist] now? Andy Warhol. Hence we will buy his works… Later I realized that in art things are much more complicated. Currently I am more interested in young artists that come with fresh ideas. Or already rated pieces, created by successful artists, practically classics.

How can a young artist’s work become a part of my collection?.. It’s a tough question. To me, being an artist is so hard that I don’t want to give anybody advances, so they wouldn’t feel disappointed later. But in any case the piece must be created better, in a more interesting and relevant way, than it does a renowned master with a brand and history.

In our country art-market emerges when people get easy money. The previous burst happened approximately in 2006-2007, when PinchukArtCentre was opened as an attempt to do something civilized in the field of local contemporary art. Of course, there is no art market in Ukraine as such. But our people have so huge creative potential that all they need to do is just continue working, learning and creating, so that Ukrainian names would be mentioned in the context of the world’s history of art.

I am glad to have an opportunity to talk to some serious European collectors. It’s a chance to integrate into the world culture, just watch people doing art properly. Don’t forget that for 70 years our path was different from the rest of the world’s, and it had its own peculiarities that influenced art. Now it’s possible to learn, engage experts from abroad. The world has changed. It has become cosmopolitan. People live completely differently. And only those artists who think one move ahead can make their way to the world. It’s great that many young guys here understand it.