By Anna Shcherbakova
An unpretentious amateur's painting of a frost covered window fetched a fabulous 37 million roubles at an auction last week. The price is on a par with museum canvasses by Kustodiyev and Konchalovsky or installations by Ilya Kabakov. The reason is not just that the auction that took place in St Petersburg on Saturday was a charitable event - the money will go to a children's hospital, a cancer centre and restoration of a church. The value of the picture has more to do with the man who painted it. The author, as an authentic signature attests, is none other than Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Among the bidders for Putin's "Hoar Frost" and 27 other works by celebrities (mainly actors and TV presenters) were industrialists, builders, bankers, restoration experts, and civil servants. As for Putin's painting, the finishing stretch was contested only by gallery owners. The winner was Natalya Kurnikova, the owner of Our Artists Gallery on Rublyovka. She confessed to having exceeded the limit because she was so eager to exhibit the first and probably the last painting by Putin.
A painting by Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko went for 11.5 million roubles. Among real figures, he is trailed by VTB President Andrei Kostin, whose painting shows a bag of gifts ("Generosity" sold for 3.4 million roubles). "The Wattle Fence", painted by Speaker of the Petersburg legislative assembly Vadim Tyulpanov, sold for 1.6 million roubles, slightly ahead of a painting by opera diva Anna Netrebko (1.3 million roubles). Other lots sold for under 1 million roubles, bringing the total auction takings to 70 million roubles.
A businessman who took part in the auction explained to me why the paintings by politicians were valued higher than those by singers and ballerinas. A canvas signed by the Governor could be presented to Government inspectors, it is something like a seal of approval, he said jokingly. He then added in a serious tone, "Putin's painting will be valid in this capacity and will not expire for another 15 years".
