The Estonian Artists' Association (EKL) says its record €2.3 million fundraiser art auction will spare the union from having to sell some property after a €700,000 fraud loss.
EKL president Maarin Ektermann told ETV's "Terevisioon" Monday morning that the three-day weekend auction raised nearly three times the amount they lost to fraud this spring, giving the organization more options for recovering financially.
Of the 162 works offered from its historic collection and donated by artists, only three went unsold. Starting bids ranged from €100 to €40,000, to make the auction accessible to a broad audience, though some prices climbed as much as 13-fold.
Several works also fetched six-figure sums, including a record €205,000 for Jaan Elken's painting "Juhikabiin" — the highest ever for a work by a living Estonian artist.
"When we started working on this over the summer, it was one of our plans for getting out of our [financial] crisis," Ektermann said. Thanks to the successful auction, the union can certainly leave some of its planned real estate unsold.
"The rest we can provide more details on at the extraordinary general meeting in mid-November," she added.
Even so, Ektermann said the EKL has no intention of becoming a regular player in the art auction market.
"After the financial fraud, we quickly decided not to ask the state for help; we wanted to try to manage on our own," she explained. "Our art collection was one of the assets we had to sell."
The union president hopes the fundraiser auction sparks greater interest in buying and owning art, including among those who previously saw them as elitist or felt art auctions weren't for them.
The EKL will first pay artists their agreed shares — 5 percent for works from its collection and 15 percent for newly donated works — and review the auction's operating costs.
After repaying its loans and restoring its financial stability, the union will draw up recommendations for its council on how best to use the remaining funds to support Estonian art, in line with the EKL's statutes.
Ektermann said she hopes to outline some priorities at the meeting next month.
Gallery owner: They know what they're paying for
Commenting on the recent auction's record-setting Elken sale, Haus Gallery owner Piia Ausman said the price reflected the rarity of works from the artist's hyperrealist period — and competition between informed buyers.
"I don't know who took part in the bidding, but I can only assume anyone willing to pay up to €100,000 for a work in today's Estonian art market — and in this case more than €200,000 — knows what they're paying for," Ausman said. "Even the artist himself no longer has any works from that period."
She also credited the auction's extensive media attention, which was amplified by the major union fraud loss behind it.
"This has been an extraordinary auction," Ausman said. "It has generated a huge amount of publicity itself, with the €700,000 fraud scandal playing a major role in that. All these factors came together to make the auction a phenomenon in its own right."
The gallery owner said the auction could have a lasting impact beyond the proceeds, including by prompting the EKL to improve its management and public profile.
She also hopes the union will invest in making its historic art collection more accessible online, potentially including information about the works' market value.
"You could say this has been one of the most profitable losses in Estonian society," Ausman added.
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