Artmark’s goal is to reach one hundred thousand euros for a sold painting

For the past two years, the renowned Amruš House, designed by the famous architect Martin Pilar at the behest of Zagreb doctor and mayor Milan Amruš in the late 19th century, has been home to the auction house Artmark. In the suitable ambiance of the historicist two-story building, this Romanian company has established its offices and gallery, adorned with works by Croatian modern and post-war artists that art lovers can view and collectors can purchase at one of its seasonal auctions. In addition to introducing the auction business to the domestic market, Artmark’s goal, as the only auction house in Croatia, is to stimulate the development of the domestic art market and to bring order to it, as such purchases are transparent, with known provenance and originality, as well as the real value of the works. We spoke with the director of the Croatian branch, art historian Iulian Pleștiu, about the auction business, plans, and the potential of the domestic art market.

 

– We started market research in 2021 and focused on neighboring countries because that is, especially in our business, the easiest and most logical. Besides Bulgaria, with which we share culture, we chose another neighbor, Serbia. However, the fact that it is not in the EU complicated things a bit for us. Considering that we had the countries of the former Yugoslavia in mind, we looked westward, to Ljubljana and Zagreb, and ultimately chose Zagreb for a number of advantages.

– Besides the fact that many Croatian artists, especially in the 1990s, worked in Western countries, art has evolved from classical to modern in a manner similar to Romania. Additionally, Zagreb is currently a sort of center for the entire region: it is at the heart of Central and Eastern Europe, excellently geographically and culturally connected to the region.

– We started operating in Romania in 2009 and have since become the market leader with over eighty percent market share. This year we are conducting our six hundredth auction in Romania, the 620th overall. In Croatia, we have so far organized six seasonal auctions and are preparing the seventh. At the first one, in October 2023, we offered 100 lots of classical, modern, and post-war visual art with a sold lot share of 60 percent, worth a total of 250 thousand euros. We continued this trend at subsequent auctions. Although art should not be viewed coldly, according to numbers, as there is something intangible in it, it only gives value while you observe it, enjoy it, but at the end of the day, we must express it numerically. Our goal is to achieve a price of one hundred thousand euros per painting, but also to expand from visual art to jewelry, decorative items, furniture…

– Artmark Romania surpassed the Romanian record in December: a work by a Romanian painter was sold for 360 thousand euros. The Croatian record, not only Artmark’s but general, is still held by ‘Antique Beauty’ by Vlahe Bukovac, which we sold last October for 66 thousand euros. The global record for a Croatian work is held by Meštrović’s sculpture ‘Abandoned’, which was sold at Christie’s auction six years ago for 268 thousand euros, with tax totaling 313 thousand euros. So, these are the amounts we want to achieve. However, I must add that our auctions are open to all buyers. Sixty percent of them purchase works below ten thousand euros. Relatively affordable.

Read the full interview in the new printed and digital edition of Lider.