Warsaw, art market in turmoil

On Gunia Nowik's stand was the Ukrainian sculptor based in Turin Alina Kleytman (born 1991), who creates skeletons of disturbing beings somewhere between the futuristic and the mythological. Alongside her are the paintings of Agata Bogacka (born 1976), a name on everyone's lips, who uses abstraction to talk about tension and negotiation, presence and absence, and those of the young Jędrzej Bieńko (born 2000), who uses an airbrush to paint apparently abstract pictures in which figures that spy on the observer are concealed (stand prices from 5,000 to 25,000 euros). Another interesting painter is Magdalena Karpińska, born in 1984, exhibited by Polana Institute, who paints still lifes with flowers including herself in the reflection, with clear references to the history of art (values around EUR 2,600).

La mostra di Giorgio Morandi alla Zacheta Gallery

"The art market in Poland is not comparable to Western Europe," explained Gunia Nowik. "Being a former communist country, art collecting here has developed recently. After 1989, there was a social and economic transformation that is now bearing fruit. There is great dynamism'.
It is a view shared by all operators and observers of the Polish art and cultural scene, which is also confirmed by the numbers. According to Artprice, in 2023-24 the art market in Poland in the ultra-contemporary sector grew by 69%, partly driven by the success of the young surrealist Ewa Juszkiewicz (born in 1984), who joined the Gagosian stable. Poland thus came fifth in the global ranking for turnover in the segment.

The economic growth of the country is reflected in the art market, but one also feels the political tension due to the expansion of the nationalist right, which has sometimes come to influence the choices within museums.
Paradoxically, the war in Ukraine also contributed to the expansion of the art scene. "The conflict has caused artists, curators and patrons to flee here from Ukraine and Belarus," explained Lukasz Gorczyca of Raster Gallery, "enhancing and enriching the local scene." On display at the fair were two already established artists, both born in the 1970s, such as Aneta Grzeszykowska, who will be exhibiting at the Venice Biennale in 2022, and Oskar Dawicki (stand values from EUR 7,000 to EUR 30,000).

"Polish contemporary art is going through a moment of ferment and great vitality, but its international visibility is still rather limited," said Davide Boy, an Italian, medical director in Poland for a pharmaceutical company and art collector who has been living in Warsaw for ten months. "There are virtuous initiatives, such as the Warsaw Art Fair and Constellation, during which various Warsaw galleries have hosted realities from other countries (for two years there has also been another fair, Nada, and in a fortnight the Gallery Weekend Warsaw, ndr). I have noticed that the economic value attributed to some works is sometimes a little overestimated, especially when compared to the limited international presence of Polish artists and galleries. Even talented artists are known almost exclusively within the circle of local collectors'.

Museum of Modern Art Warsaw, foto di Maja Wirkus

Opinions are often divided on this point, in fact, there are those who think they are in line with European standards, while for others they are still lower than in the West, but growing steadily. "Looking at the evolution of prices, it is certain that values will increase," commented Katarzyna Białousz, ceo of Instytut Fotografii Fort, a foundation dedicated to photography that sells works to support itself. "There are more and more players involved in the market interested in supporting and defending Polish art, but it needs to be more recognised abroad".

Less strong is the photography market, which still represents a niche. "There are only two galleries completely dedicated to this area and the market is not yet as developed," continued the gallery owner, "we do not see the same price growth that we see in the contemporary art market. At their stand were, among others, the promising Agnieszka Mastalerz (class of 1991), who explores the mechanisms of control and exploitation in relationships and in relation to nature, and Joanna Tochman (class of 1992), who paints imaginary worlds and then searches for them in nature for dreamlike photographs (value EUR 3,000-3,500).

Certainly, the number of foundations has grown, also facilitated by Polish legislation (according to ArtTactic, a thousand have been created since 2023). Among the most recent is the Visteria Foundation, created by Kasia Jordan, collector, patron and founder of Vogue Poland. These days it inaugurated an exhibition dedicated to Jorge Zalszupin, a Polish architect and designer who emigrated to Brazil in the post-war period, but it will close to undergo renovation and reopen as a permanent museum.

After 20 years of nomadism, the Museum of Modern Art (Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej, or Msn), established in 2005 but without a fixed location until 2024, also recently opened. The building, a white concrete cube, was constructed thanks to a state investment of 629 million Złoty (about 148 million euro). The collection includes 4,300 pieces of modern and contemporary art and is enriched every year thanks to a budget of 2-3 million Złoty (approx. 470,000-700,000 euro). The latest acquisitions were of Ukrainians and Palestinians, a choice that underlines the museum's socially committed and minority-friendly orientation. In October it will also host the Kyev Biennial, which for obvious reasons cannot be held in Ukraine. This will be followed in November by a major exhibition on women artists in history from the Renaissance to the present, curated by Alison Gingeras (former curator at the Guggenheim, the Pompidou and Palazzo Grassi), entitled "The Woman Question", with numerous loans from Italy of artists such as Sofonisba Anguissola, Lavinia Fontana, Artemisia Gentileschi. Italian art, at this time, also at the Zacheta Gallery, with the first exhibition of Morandi not only in Poland, but in Central and Eastern Europe, curated by Lorenzo Balbi, director of Mambo. A further opportunity to consolidate the already solid relations between the two countries..