Sotheby’s has set a new auction record for Ivan Marchuk

5 June 04:01

The painting “The Generous Planet” by Ukrainian artist Ivan Marchuk sold at a Sotheby’s auction for 96,000 euros. The painting became the artist’s most expensive lot at this auction house, and the name of the new owner is not being disclosed. This is reported on the auction house’s website, according to "Komersant Ukrainian"

The work was initially estimated at 40,000–60,000 euros, but the final price turned out to be significantly higher than initial expectations.

Ivan Marchuk created the still life “Generous Planet” in 1994. Until the sale, the painting was part of a private collection in the United States.

At the Sotheby’s auction, this particular canvas became the artist’s most expensive work ever sold at this international venue. By comparison, the landscape “Peace Has Settled Here” was previously sold for 76,000 euros, while the works “Village in the Moonlight” and “They Flew to the Sky” went for 40,000 and 44,000 euros, respectively.

Marchuk’s absolute record was set in Kyiv

Despite the successful sale at Sotheby’s, the absolute record for the value of Ivan Marchuk’s paintings was set not abroad, but in Ukraine.

In 2024, at the Goldens auction in Kyiv, the painting “The Moon Has Risen Over the Dnipro” sold for $250,000. The total amount, including taxes and the artist’s royalty, reached $300,000 at the time.

Even earlier, in 2022, the painting “Garden of Temptation” was sold at the Art Can Help charity auction for $120,000. Half of the proceeds were then donated to the “Come Back Alive” fund to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

A permanent exhibition of Ivan Marchuk’s works has opened in Kyiv

Alongside the growing interest in the artist’s works on the art market in Ukraine, a major museum presentation of his work is also underway.

The “Chocolate House” Art Center in Kyiv has opened a permanent exhibition titled “Ivan Marchuk: Museum Collections.” The exhibition opened on May 12 and brings together works from the collections of 11 museum institutions in Kyiv, Lviv, Sumy, Lutsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Kaniv.

In total, the project features 40 works spanning the period from the late 1960s to the present. The exhibition was timed to coincide with the artist’s 90th birthday.

Three new works, which Ivan Marchuk created in Vienna in 2024 and donated specifically for this exhibition, were also displayed separately.

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Who is Ivan Marchuk

Ivan Marchuk is a People’s Artist of Ukraine, a winner of the Shevchenko Prize, and one of the most famous Ukrainian artists in the world. He developed his own unique painting technique—plontanism—based on the layering of fine lines that form a complex composition of color and light.

The artist’s body of work includes about 5,000 pieces. In 2006, he was admitted to the “Golden Guild” of the International Academy of Contemporary Art in Rome, and in 2007, he was included in the British publication Daily Telegraph’s “100 Geniuses of the Modern Age” ranking, where he took 72nd place.

In 2021, Ivan Marchuk received the Presidential Award “National Legend of Ukraine.” Today, he is considered the most valuable Ukrainian artist and one of the top record-holders on the Ukrainian art market.