Russian Oligarchs' Art Investments: Soft Power and Kleptocracy

Russian oligarchs have long used art as a vehicle for wealth opacity and soft power. Roman Abramovich spent $122.9 million in two days on Lucian Freud's Benefits Supervisor Sleeping and Francis Bacon's Triptych in 2008. Viktor Vekselberg collects Fabergé eggs since the 1990s. Petr Aven's Swiss vacation home was recently seized; his collection includes Russian avant-garde and contemporary sculpture. Putin allegedly owns Nina Moleva's collection worth up to $2 billion. The 2016 Panama Papers detailed how Dmitry Rybolovlev used shell companies for art transactions. Dasha Zhukova founded Garage Center for Contemporary Culture in 2008, designed by Rem Koolhaas in Gorky Park (2015), hosting Bourgeois, Tiravanija, Kusama. Garage now suspends exhibitions due to Ukraine war. Zhukova sits on boards of Met and Shed, where Frieze New York is held. In 2015, Garage's reopening featured Larry Gagosian, Karlie Kloss, Wendi Deng Murdoch. Zhukova and Murdoch co-founded Artsy in 2009 with Kushner's venture capital. Vladimir Potanin bought Malevich's Black Square for $1 million in 2002, then donated $5 million to Kennedy Center's Russia Lounge (now Opera House Circles Lounge). In 2021, Putin co-funded Diversity United exhibition promoting progressive Russia. Collector Viktor Bondarenko acquires Russian art out of 'national responsibility' to preserve heritage, per Elise Herrala's Art of Transition.