72-year-old artist without art education opened fashionable gallery in Manhattan. It sold its product, one of which is worth almost a million dollars

A few months ago on the streets of New York began to appear mysterious inscriptions. Hundreds of billboards, bus stops and phone booths throughout the city graced the phrase «Look at the world through the eyes of Ana».

«What's this Ana?» - surprise thought New Yorkers. These markings (white letters on a black background) were everywhere, because of what many have concluded that they were advertising some kind of film. But no tape on the «world through the eyes of Ana» no studio release is not planned. Office workers who work in buildings near the mysterious billboards are not tired to argue that the phrase can mean amazing. Detectives, amateurs sharing their versions of the forums on the Internet, but to what did not come.

But at the end of last month on the ground short inscriptions have reproductions of paintings, affecting their bright colors and a new phrase: «Look at the world through the eyes of Ana Tsarev». That is the mystery.

Stop - and who did it, the Anah ?..

Tsarev Ana (Ana Tzarev) - 72-year-old artist. Although it no one had ever heard, it could soon become a major star in New York. Anyway, the first artist in history, selling his paintings for nearly a million dollars despite the fact that earlier in the market is not showing any of her work, it is possible to believe.

As crazy self Tsarev Anna is in the footsteps of the Canadian photographer Gregory Kolberta (Gregory Colbert). In order to draw attention to his draft Nomadic Museum, it is located on the billboards of my photos - images of people and animals. It was assumed that in this large-scale shares the photographer did not have anything commercial, but its purpose, other than the actual project Nomadic Museum, was «only» attract collectors to the studio in the East Village, where they rely to replenish their collections.

Tsarev Ana was born in Croatia. Her real name - Gina Maria (Marija Guina). In mid-1950's, she married a Robert Chandler (Robert Chandler) and moved with him to New Zealand. There she is mainly dealt with family and learned to design clothes.

Couple has opened a network of luxury department stores, where Gina took the post of creative director. In 1987, Chandler and Gina have sold their shops and retired. They lived in Monaco and Thailand, where Maria addicted to painting and took as an alias name of his mother. With funds from the sale of department stores, her sons Richard and Christopher Chandler (Richard Chandler, Christopher Chandler) founded Sovereign Global Investment. Operations in emerging markets have brought them billions of dollars.

borrowed money from his son, Richard, Mary, opened in New York for its gallery Ana Tsarev Gallery. It is located in the prestigious district of the city on 57 th Street in Manhattan. In the same building is almost the most famous galleries town, including Marian Goodman Gallery, where works by Gerhard Richter (Gerhard Richter), Tasity Dean (Tacita Dean), Jeff Wall (Jeff Wall), and others. Quite a number of boutiques are Tiffany's and Louis Vuitton. Above the building thoroughly worked renowned architect James Harb (James Harb), whose services cost 3-4 million dollars. A Gallery of Ana Tsarev glass facade and the street you can see the artist's large-scale works, including canvas «Lady» of 2 to 4 meters. This picture, hanging directly over the table the artist, sold for 700 thousand dollars and is the most expensive of the Tsarev, written on a single canvas. This canvas depicts two figures in a bright blue background, holding the mask. Tsarev likes flashy colors: sensual pink, electric blue, surrealistic summer green.

Most of the 57 paintings in the exhibition, which is called «Cognitive journey», were created in the past two years. Tsarev calls them «cards» - souvenirs from the countries where she had visited. Her paintings can be seen living in AIDS-ravaged African village, a Japanese seller of silk, which she patronized, as well as dancers from the African tribe catches.

Tsarev never studied painting. Among its main instigators - Japanese artists of XVII - XVIII centuries: Katsusika Hokusay (Katushika Hokusai), Ogata Korin (Ogata Korin), Kitagawa Utamaro (Kitagawa Utamaro). In addition, her works have influenced the work of African artists and modernists such as Henri Matisse (Henri Matisse).

«Ana works a little more traditional, [what works in the fashionable New York artists. - Ed. ] which is one of the reasons why we chose this area - said the executive director Gallery Reed McMillan. - Her work is not similar to those that are sold in Chelsea ».

Indeed, Tsarev as if there was no crisis that hit the painting in the middle of XIX century in connection with the advent of photography. Through painting, she tells the same stories that the transmission channel and Discovery Channel. As the artist herself says, when creating his works, she possessed the same thirst for knowledge that inspired Marco Polo (Marco Polo), Christopher Columbus (Christopher Columbus), and Edmund Hillary (Edmund Hillary) to new discoveries. It aims to «represent the people of distant lands and their customs», and in doing so, hopes to «make them close and understandable not only for me but for everyone who enjoys the fact that all members of our extended family - humanity so different».

«Through his travels, I became very respected various ancient cultures, and through my art I try to preserve them for posterity. [My work. - Ed. ] - cards for the future ».

The fact that the art world has such a figure as Tsarev, can seriously affect the established stereotypes: the artist is better «spin», when younger, the artist should be a part of «art-crowd»; determine the value of criticism that enmesh their theories artist web.

Tsarev perfectly able to promote their work. It has already produced a series of lavishly illustrated large-format books on her creativity. In the nearest plans - publication of the monograph. British art historian Edward Lucy Smith (Edward Lucie-Smith) had already ordered the text, where creativity Tsarev compared with the works of Vincent van Gogh (Vincent van Gogh) and the German expressionists of the group «bridge», and also refers to Andy Warhol (Andy Warhol), Francis Bacon (Francis Bacon), Paul Gauguin (Paul Gauguin), Camille Pissarro (Camille Pissarro) and Paul Cezanne (Paul Cézanne). According to Lucy Smith, creative artist, returns us to the «earlier and heroic times» Postimpressionism and early modernism.

There is an element of truth. But if you're not sure that works Tsarev you like, do not run and buy her work simply because of the fact that it is a new «fancy gadgets»: a final word about the artistic value of her paintings should say critics, who it does not pay.

Material prepared Yulia Maksimova

Sources: theglobeandmail.com , artinvestment.ru