Russian ´Oligarch´ Art Museums and Foundations

Private art museums and foundations are on the rise worldwide. Since the 1990s, their number and impact on global art and (public) museums have dramatically increased. In the Russian Federation, however, this development lagged behind. Only after the millennium, in the wake of the privatization of the economy, did Russias newly formed economic elite follow suit. The last decade witnessed a sharp increase in oligarch art philanthropy, foundations and museums covering a broad range of genres: from contemporary to religious art, from modernism to the avant-garde, from Socialist realism to the Soviet severe style, from Imperial Russian heritage to ethnic or foreign legacies. Some philanthropists have launched museum or institutional initiatives. Others are investing in urban gentrification projects for mixed commercial-cultural use; still others are funding museum projects, awards or donations. A characteristic feature of this new Russian philanthropy is the growing involve- ment abroad: Russias tycoons finance biennials, they co-operate with leading foreign institutions and private foundations. Some are buying up auction houses and taking over prestigious publishing networks in the West. Their contribution to the (inter-)national museum world is of increasing relevance, notably in view of the recent political transformation within Russia and its foreign political isolation. Contrary to the rising influence of Russian private art museums and foundations, international research has so far neglected this subject. The proposed project aims to fill this gap. It will be based on representative case studies and rare empirical data, drawn from (mainly) Russian primary and secondary source material. It will rely on a broad comparative theoretical framework, elaborated largely by contemporary museum studies as well as by cultural sociology and digital studies. The results will be discussed in academic exchange and published.

Private art museums and foundations are on the rise - worldwide. Since the 1990s, their number and impact on global art and museums have dramatically increased. In the Russian Federation, however, this development lagged behind. Only after the millennium, in the wake of the privatization of the economy, did Russia's newly formed economic elite follow suit. Notably the second decade of the 21st century witnessed a sharp increase in 'oligarch' art philanthropy, foundations and museums - covering a broad range of genres: from contemporary to religious art, from modernism to the avant-garde, from Socialist realism to the Soviet 'severe' style, from Imperial Russian heritage to ethnic or foreign legacies. Some philanthropists have launched museum or institutional initiatives. Others have invested in urban gentrification projects for mixed commercial-cultural use; still others have funded museum projects, awards or donations. A characteristic feature has been their growing involvement abroad: Russia's tycoons financed biennials, co-operated with leading foreign institutions and private foundations, acted as donors and trustees on international museum boards. In addition, some bought into auction houses or took over prestigious publishing networks in the West. For years, their contribution to the (inter-)national museum world had been of increasing relevance. Yet contrary to the rising influence of Russian private art museums and foundations, international museum research has long neglected this subject. This widely uncharted, multilayered terrain has been the subject of a comprehensive research project funded by the Austrian Science Fund, FWF. The results are now available open-access. The innovative study is based on representative case studies and rare empirical data, drawn from mainly Russian primary and secondary source material. It relies on a broad comparative theoretical framework, elaborated largely by contemporary museum and philanthropy studies. The work spans three decades, from perestroika to the outbreak of the health crisis in 2020; the latter considerably impacted both philanthropic ventures and on-site research.