Europe and the United States really do everything in order to sanction Russia, and the bottomless sanctions have been extended to the field of art. Given the current situation in Ukraine, auction houses in Western countries are suspending their Russian art sales in order to cater to the so-called sanctions and are no longer participating in this summer's Russian Art Week.
A sotheby's auction house spokesperson said, "Sotheby's strictly abides by all applicable laws and regulations, including global sanctions. We are absolutely strict about complying with the current sanctions measures and are closely monitoring any updates to the list. "At present, Sotheby's has closed its administrative offices in Moscow.
In addition to sotheby's announcement of the suspension of its Russian art sales, a spokesman for Bonhams Fine Art Auctioneers and Appraisers revealed that they had cancelled Russian art sales originally planned for Russian Art Week. Russian Art Week is a semi-annual art fair, held in June and November, an international platform for the promotion of Russian art and culture.
Similarly, staff at Christie's art auction house have said they will avoid selling Russian art during the conflict. "Although Christie's current sales market in Russia is relatively small, we have a responsibility to respond to the needs of our customers and geopolitical events beyond our control," Christie's told Reuters.
According to Russian cultural social media information, the June fair of Russian Art Week will still be held so far. Russian Art + Culture wrote in a blog post on March 18, "In periods like today, artists express their views and emotions most vividly. We would like to announce a public call for entries in response to the current state of the world and the conflict in Ukraine. "
A week ago, the arts and culture publishing agency shared a post about a fundraising campaign called "Real Russia – Support for Ukrainians," which aims to raise money for humanitarian aid.