Kiev
The Ukrainian billionaire and art collector Viktor Pinchuk unveiled his most recent acquisitions last month in his private museum in Kiev. The 42 works on display at the Pinchuk Art Center include seven pieces by Damien Hirst, two paintings by Jeff Koons, six photographs by Andreas Gursky, as well as works by Antony Gormley, Peter Doig and Takashi Murakami.
“I bought some pieces through Sotheby’s and Christie’s,’’ says Mr Pinchuk, whose fortune was made through steel and is estimated at $2.8 billion by Forbes. “But I mainly buy directly from the artists and through their dealers.’’
The paintings by Koons are Girl (Dots) and Landscape Waterfall II, both 2007. Hirst’s work includes paintings of cancerous cells, 13 canvases covered with flies and resin, and Jesus and the Disciples which consists of 13 steel tanks, 12 of which contain cows’ heads in formaldehyde. Since the room had a horrible smell, many visitors suspected the containers were leaking but the organisers denied this. The artist declined to comment.
Meanwhile, back in London, a senior trade source told The Art Newspaper that the artist had recently concluded the sale in Paris for $35m of an installation of seven sharks in formaldehyde entitled The Seven Deadly Sins. This could not be independently confirmed.
Originally appeared in The Art Newspaper as ‘Billionaire collector unveils Hirst, Koons and Gursky'