Russian-owned auction house faces boycott by art world figures
A day after the horrific bombing of a Ukrainian maternity hospital, visitors to the Mayfair offices of the Russian-owned auction house Phillips could not help but wonder if an event preview seemed subdued.
“It did feel quiet,” said one attender at the preview, where viewers sipped espressos as vintage German-made Lange watches, labelled with six-figure prices in dollars and Swiss francs, lay behind display cases for an exhibition next month.
The event – and forthcoming auctions – will also be a litmus test of feeling towards Phillips, which insists it is “business as usual” in the face of a boycott by respected figures in the art world.
Despite it donating £5.8m to the Ukrainian Red Cross Society from a recent auction in London, and its CEO condemning the Russian invasion, those calling for the company to be shunned argue that only a boycott will force its Russian business figures – such as its owners Leonid Friedland and Leonid Strunin – to put pressure on the Kremlin.
“They provided the donation but it’s really not back to business as usual, and I think buyers and consignors should take their business elsewhere. I don’t think that anyone should be dealing with Russian or Russian-owned companies at the moment,” said Andy Hall, an art collector and philanthropist.
“Russia is so centralised and repressed that anyone who is in the economic and cultural elite in that country is, in a way, complicit with the current regime,” he added, likening the situation to firms based in Nazi Germany and the boycotts that sought to freeze out South African-controlled businesses in the Apartheid era.
Friedland and Strunin, who are not subject to any sanctions, list their addresses on Companies House as the Berkeley Square headquarters of
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