James Butterwick

"Grisha" and "Vova" at Small Art Exhibition in Moscow

In May this year “Small Art” exhibition opened in Moscow at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Centre and will continue until 5 September 2021. We are delighted that our two artworks “Grisha” by Vasily Polenov and “Portrait of Vova Mamontov Reading” by Mikhail Vrubel are now in Moscow on display. Here is a story about how these artworks became part of James’s collection. His relationship with the Sokolov and Pavlov families began with a movie.

James Butterwick began collecting and selling Russian art in 1985, and has since established himself as one of the world’s leading experts in the field. During the 1990s he lived in Moscow, becoming the only foreign member of the Russian Society of Private Collectors. Now based in the UK, James assembles collections, takes part in museum exhibitions and art fairs, and delivers lectures on Russian art across the UK and globally.

Futurism. Muses. Ukrainian Primitivism. Online Exclusive: 23 April - 23 June 2021

“The ethnographic and exotic nature of early 20th century European art compelled members of the Ukrainian avant-garde to seek inspiration from Ukrainian Folk Art, imbuing its elements and archaic forms with a contemporary dynamism often expressed in abstract form.” Elena Kashuba, “From Utopia to Tragedy” 2017.

Bogomazov at "The Futurist Collection" at Kroeller Muller Museum

“The Futurist Collection” exhibition will be on until 9 January 2022. Delighted that several works by Alexander Bogomazov, acquired by the museum from James Butterwick, are featured in the show. In the exhibition, the latest acquisitions of Balla and Jules Schmalzigaug are surrounded by works by Umberto Boccioni, Alexander Bogomazov and Vilmos Huszár.

Original or fake?

Questions over the authenticity of Russian avant-garde art have plagued the market for decades. James Butterwick gives interview to The Arts Newspaper about “Russian Avant-Garde at the Museum Ludwig: Original and Fake. Questions, Research, Explanations”. The exhibition running until 3 January 2021, delves into the process of authenticating 49 paintings in the museum’s collection, amassed by its founders.

"Grisha" and "Vova" at Small Art Exhibition in Moscow