Alexander Ivanov (art collector)
Encyclopedia
Alexander Ivanov is a Russian art collector who lives in Moscow
. He is best known for the Fabergé Museum
in Baden-Baden
, which is the first private Russian-owned museum
outside of Russia
. Ivanov has no business holdings or interests, but the value of his massive art collection makes him a billionaire. In spring 2010, he said that a Middle East
ern collector offered him $2 billion for his Fabergé
collection, the world's largest Fabergé jewellery
collection with more than 3,000 items. Ivanov's tastes extend to many areas, and he also collects dinosaur
fossil
s, ancient Greek and Roman art, pre-Columbian
gold, Old Master
paintings, Impressionist paintings, Orthodox
icon
s, and he also has one of the finest collections of vintage automobiles.
Ivanov's most significant purchase was the 1902 Fabergé egg
made as an engagement gift to Baron Edouard de Rothschild
. Ivanov bought it at Christie's
in London
on Nov. 28, 2007, for 9 million pounds ($18.5 million at the time), because he thinks that it’s Fabergé’s “finest ever.”
, Russian SFSR, in 1962, Ivanov served in the Soviet Navy
before making his studies in Moscow
, eventually graduating in Law
from Moscow State University
. In the late 1980s, as the Soviet Union
began to allow some capitalism
, Ivanov was one of the first Russian businessmen to start trading in computer
s, and he quickly built up a successful and lucrative business. He began collecting Fabergé eggs and other art soon afterwards, because he had bags full of cash that he didn't know what to do with. Despite the minor relaxation of state repression under Mikhail Gorbachev
, Soviet society remained a place of severe restrictions, and terrible deficits of all consumer goods.
Alexander Ivanov is also an artist
, pioneering his own form of abstract painting that utilizes geometric images create with extremely vibrant colors whose pigment
s are partly made from very expensive and rare mineral
s. The presence of such precious ingredients is one reason that his first painting sold at auction went for 60 000 pounds at Bonhams
on December 1, 2010 in London.
in the German
spa
city of Baden-Baden
. Besides the Rothschild Faberge Egg, other items in the museum collection include a rare silver
decanter
in the form of a rabbit
, and Karelian Birch
, the last Imperial Easter Egg, made of Karelian birch with gold
and diamond
s for Easter 1917. Czar Nicholas II, however, was deposed before he could give it to his mother. When Ivanov first bought the Karelian egg, some experts resisted because its existence wasn’t known previously. Ivanov now has a convincing group of documents that his researchers found in the Russian state archives, proving that the egg is genuine. It has been shown at a number of major international exhibitions and is now accepted by scholars, he says.
Ivanov said his museum building cost about 17 million euro
s to buy and renovate, including a 1 million euro security system. He chose Baden-Baden, near Germany’s western border, because it’s “close to France
, a resort for the rich, and historically it has always been the most popular resort for Russians.” The local government has also been supportive, he said.
Peter Carl Fabergé
was official supplier to the Russian Imperial court from 1885 to 1917. It also catered to the growing demand for luxury items from the Russian Empire's newly rich as the economy boomed in the two decades before World War I
. In addition to Easter eggs, Fabergé made a wide range of jewelry and decorative artworks, the most famous of which are semi-precious stone and jeweled figures of people, animals, and vases with flowers. The company had international brand recognition, with a shop in London, and among its international customers were the Queen of England
, and the King of Siam (now Thailand
). Fabergé's artworks became popular with Western collectors, led by Malcolm Forbes
, in the 1960s. As Russian billionaires appeared on the market earlier this decade, prices reached records.
Ivanov said that one reason that he opened the museum in Germany
was safety concerns. He told Britain's The Independent
newspaper: "It's very difficult [in Russia] because of all the administrative barriers [...] You have to be indebted to someone, and you can never feel that your collection is safe – not from the state, not from bandits, not from anyone. In Germany we spend serious money on security of course, but at least you know that the state itself won't do anything."
A new wing is planned for the Fabergé Museum that will add more than 600 meters of exhibition space for European Old Master
paintings and pre-Columbian
jewelry from Peru
. More than 2,000 square meters (21,527 square feet) will also be created to house Ivanov's vintage car
collection. He has about 50 American and European antique cars, all of which are in excellent condition and which date from the late 1890s to 1930. Ivanov also plans to open a Faberge Museum in Dubrovnik
, and negotiations continue with the city government.
In April 2009, just a month before the opening of the Fabergé Museum, a company called Fabergé Ltd., registered in the Cayman Islands
, filed a lawsuit against the Fabergé Museum claiming it owned the rights to all things named ``Fabergé’’. This legal action made the Fabergé Museum’s first year a difficult one because the museum was barred from using the Fabergé name, which meant no advertising or even a sign on the door. In its first 12 months, the museum made a profit of about 500,000 euros, compared with an expected profit of 1 million euros to 1.5 million euros, said Ivanov. He had expected a million visitors a year at 10 euros a head. In January 2010, a German court upheld the Fabergé Museum’s right to use its name.
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. He is best known for the Fabergé Museum
Fabergé Museum
Fabergé Museum was opened in by Russian art collector Alexander Ivanov in the German spa city of Baden-Baden.-Description:The most significant item in the museum's collection is the Rothschild Fabergé egg, that was made as an engagement gift from Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild to her brother's...
in Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden is a spa town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River, in the region of Karlsruhe...
, which is the first private Russian-owned museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
outside of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Ivanov has no business holdings or interests, but the value of his massive art collection makes him a billionaire. In spring 2010, he said that a Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
ern collector offered him $2 billion for his Fabergé
Fabergé
Fabergé may refer to:*House of Fabergé, a Russian jewelry firm founded by Gustav Faberge in 1842*Fabergé workmaster, goldsmiths who produced jewelry for the House of Fabergé*Fabergé eggs, the most famous works of the House of Faberge...
collection, the world's largest Fabergé jewellery
Jewellery
Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...
collection with more than 3,000 items. Ivanov's tastes extend to many areas, and he also collects dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s, ancient Greek and Roman art, pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
gold, Old Master
Old Master
"Old Master" is a term for a European painter of skill who worked before about 1800, or a painting by such an artist. An "old master print" is an original print made by an artist in the same period...
paintings, Impressionist paintings, Orthodox
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
s, and he also has one of the finest collections of vintage automobiles.
Ivanov's most significant purchase was the 1902 Fabergé egg
Rothschild (Fabergé egg)
The Rothschild egg is a jewelled, enameled decorated egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1902 by the workshop of Michael Perchin, for Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild, who presented the egg to Germaine Halphen upon her engagement to Béatrice's younger...
made as an engagement gift to Baron Edouard de Rothschild
Edouard de Rothschild
Edouard de Rothschild may refer to:* Édouard Alphonse de Rothschild , French banker* Édouard Etienne de Rothschild , French financier & horseman...
. Ivanov bought it at Christie's
Christie's
Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on Nov. 28, 2007, for 9 million pounds ($18.5 million at the time), because he thinks that it’s Fabergé’s “finest ever.”
Early life and career
Born in PskovPskov
Pskov is an ancient city and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located in the northwest of Russia about east from the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population: -Early history:...
, Russian SFSR, in 1962, Ivanov served in the Soviet Navy
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
before making his studies in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, eventually graduating in Law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
from Moscow State University
Moscow State University
Lomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...
. In the late 1980s, as the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
began to allow some capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, Ivanov was one of the first Russian businessmen to start trading in computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s, and he quickly built up a successful and lucrative business. He began collecting Fabergé eggs and other art soon afterwards, because he had bags full of cash that he didn't know what to do with. Despite the minor relaxation of state repression under Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
, Soviet society remained a place of severe restrictions, and terrible deficits of all consumer goods.
Alexander Ivanov is also an artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, pioneering his own form of abstract painting that utilizes geometric images create with extremely vibrant colors whose pigment
Pigment
A pigment is a material that changes the color of reflected or transmitted light as the result of wavelength-selective absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, in which a material emits light.Many materials selectively absorb...
s are partly made from very expensive and rare mineral
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
s. The presence of such precious ingredients is one reason that his first painting sold at auction went for 60 000 pounds at Bonhams
Bonhams
Bonhams is a privately owned British auction house founded in 1793. It is the third largest auctioneer after Sotheby's and Christie's, and conducts around 700 auctions per year. It has 700 employees....
on December 1, 2010 in London.
Fabergé Museum
In May 2009 Ivanov opened the Fabergé MuseumFabergé Museum
Fabergé Museum was opened in by Russian art collector Alexander Ivanov in the German spa city of Baden-Baden.-Description:The most significant item in the museum's collection is the Rothschild Fabergé egg, that was made as an engagement gift from Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild to her brother's...
in the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
spa
Spa
The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...
city of Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden is a spa town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River, in the region of Karlsruhe...
. Besides the Rothschild Faberge Egg, other items in the museum collection include a rare silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
decanter
Decanter
A decanter is a vessel that is used to hold the decantation of a liquid which may contain sediment. Decanters are normally used as serving vessels for wine. Decanters vary in shape and design. They are usually made of an inert material and will hold at least one standard bottle of wine...
in the form of a rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
, and Karelian Birch
Karelian Birch (Fabergé egg)
The Karelian Birch egg, also known as Karelian Birch or the Birch Egg, is a Fabergé egg, one of two Easter eggs made under the supervision of Peter Carl Fabergé in 1917 for the last Tsar of Russia Nicholas II. It was the second to last Fabergé egg made, before Constellation...
, the last Imperial Easter Egg, made of Karelian birch with gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
and diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
s for Easter 1917. Czar Nicholas II, however, was deposed before he could give it to his mother. When Ivanov first bought the Karelian egg, some experts resisted because its existence wasn’t known previously. Ivanov now has a convincing group of documents that his researchers found in the Russian state archives, proving that the egg is genuine. It has been shown at a number of major international exhibitions and is now accepted by scholars, he says.
Ivanov said his museum building cost about 17 million euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s to buy and renovate, including a 1 million euro security system. He chose Baden-Baden, near Germany’s western border, because it’s “close to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, a resort for the rich, and historically it has always been the most popular resort for Russians.” The local government has also been supportive, he said.
Peter Carl Fabergé
Peter Carl Fabergé
Peter Karl Fabergé also known as Karl Gustavovich Fabergé in Russia was a Russian jeweller of Baltic German-Danish and French origin, best known for the famous Fabergé eggs, made in the style of genuine Easter eggs, but using precious metals and gemstones rather than more mundane materials.-Early...
was official supplier to the Russian Imperial court from 1885 to 1917. It also catered to the growing demand for luxury items from the Russian Empire's newly rich as the economy boomed in the two decades before World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. In addition to Easter eggs, Fabergé made a wide range of jewelry and decorative artworks, the most famous of which are semi-precious stone and jeweled figures of people, animals, and vases with flowers. The company had international brand recognition, with a shop in London, and among its international customers were the Queen of England
Queen of England
Queen of England may refer to:* Any of the female monarchs of England* Any wife of a male monarch of England who functioned as his official consort during his reign; see List of English consorts...
, and the King of Siam (now Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
). Fabergé's artworks became popular with Western collectors, led by Malcolm Forbes
Malcolm Forbes
Malcolm Stevenson Forbes was publisher of Forbes magazine, founded by his father B. C. Forbes and today run by his son Steve Forbes.-Life and career:...
, in the 1960s. As Russian billionaires appeared on the market earlier this decade, prices reached records.
Ivanov said that one reason that he opened the museum in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
was safety concerns. He told Britain's The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
newspaper: "It's very difficult [in Russia] because of all the administrative barriers [...] You have to be indebted to someone, and you can never feel that your collection is safe – not from the state, not from bandits, not from anyone. In Germany we spend serious money on security of course, but at least you know that the state itself won't do anything."
A new wing is planned for the Fabergé Museum that will add more than 600 meters of exhibition space for European Old Master
Old Master
"Old Master" is a term for a European painter of skill who worked before about 1800, or a painting by such an artist. An "old master print" is an original print made by an artist in the same period...
paintings and pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
jewelry from Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
. More than 2,000 square meters (21,527 square feet) will also be created to house Ivanov's vintage car
Vintage car
A vintage car is commonly defined as a car built between the start of 1919 and the end of 1930 known as the "Vintage era". There is little debate about the start date of the vintage period—the end of World War I is a nicely defined marker there—but the end date is a matter of a little...
collection. He has about 50 American and European antique cars, all of which are in excellent condition and which date from the late 1890s to 1930. Ivanov also plans to open a Faberge Museum in Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
, and negotiations continue with the city government.
In April 2009, just a month before the opening of the Fabergé Museum, a company called Fabergé Ltd., registered in the Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica...
, filed a lawsuit against the Fabergé Museum claiming it owned the rights to all things named ``Fabergé’’. This legal action made the Fabergé Museum’s first year a difficult one because the museum was barred from using the Fabergé name, which meant no advertising or even a sign on the door. In its first 12 months, the museum made a profit of about 500,000 euros, compared with an expected profit of 1 million euros to 1.5 million euros, said Ivanov. He had expected a million visitors a year at 10 euros a head. In January 2010, a German court upheld the Fabergé Museum’s right to use its name.