Konstantin Alexandrovich Batynkov (b. 1959) is a painter and graphic artist, an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts, who works in large series and predominantly in monochrome; his recurring motifs are machinery and “another life”. The Don Auction House collection holds 3 works (painting – 2, graphics – 1). Estimates for the artist: from 360 000 to 500 000 ₽. Below are the facts about the artist and about what the collection contains.
Konstantin Alexandrovich Batynkov was born on 13 June 1959 in Sevastopol; his family moved to Moscow the same year, and he lives and works there. He graduated from Moscow Secondary Art School No. 50 and went on to study in private studios in Moscow and in France; he also spent two years at the Moscow Institute of Civil Aviation Engineers, which he left without graduating. In 1991 he did an internship at the Saint-Henri association in Toulouse. He has taken part in exhibitions in Russia and abroad since 1978; he joined the Union of Artists of the USSR in 1983 and the International Federation of Artists in 1986. Since 1985 he has taken part in the exhibition activity of the Mitki group. In 2015 he was elected an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts. His awards include a special prize in the graphics category at the first independent contemporary art award, “Master” (2004), and the Nesterov Prize of the Creative Union of Artists of Russia (2016).
The Don Auction House collection holds 3 works by Batynkov: “Allegorii” (Allegories), “Grad” and “Rytsarsky romans” (Knight’s Romance). They are split between two catalogue sections, painting and graphics: painting – 2, graphics – 1. The descriptions list acrylic on a vinyl support and acrylic with ink on vinyl. The formats are elongated, close to a one-to-two ratio. No source available to us assigns these pieces to a named series by the artist, and we make no such claim. These are original works, not reproductions. Each lot page states the artist, date, medium and dimensions, with provenance and expert opinion wherever such documentation exists.
Batynkov works in large series and predominantly in monochrome. The official list published by the Russian Academy of Arts gives his materials as paper and acrylic, canvas and acrylic, paper and ink, and paper with vinyl and acrylic; the artist describes himself first of all as a graphic artist, says that what he likes most is drawing in ink on good paper, and calls paintable vinyl wallpaper a support he has long worked on. His recurring motifs are machinery and “another life”: aircraft, airships, rockets, ships, bulldozers, military and sporting subjects, futuristic cityscapes, carried from one cycle to the next – “Parade of Planets”, “Sea Battle”, “ProKosmos”, “View from Above”. The titles held here, “Allegorii” and “Rytsarsky romans”, echo the artist’s project of the same name, “Allegorii. Rytsarsky romans” (Allegories. Knight’s Romance), at the pop/off/art gallery in 2006. This is a coincidence of titles, not a statement about provenance: we hold no documents showing that these particular works were shown there. The adjacent catalogue section is contemporary art.
Works by Batynkov are held by the State Tretyakov Gallery and the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, as well as by the Novy Museum in St Petersburg, the Perm State Art Gallery, the Radishchev Art Museum in Saratov, the Novosibirsk State Art Museum, the Surikov Art Museum in Krasnoyarsk, the Sukachev Regional Art Museum in Irkutsk and the Savitsky Regional Picture Gallery in Penza. His solo exhibition “Another Life” was held at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, and “Life Everywhere” (2019) at the Zurab Tsereteli Gallery of Arts together with Krokin Gallery. He has worked with Krokin Gallery since 2002, and more than twenty of his solo exhibitions have been held there; in Russia he is also represented by pop/off/art. Tatlin has published two monographs: “Konstantin Batynkov” (2009) and a Russian-language edition under the title “Константин Батынков” (2018).
The Don Auction House is based in Rostov-on-Don and holds online sales, at which pieces from the collection are offered. As a guide, works by Batynkov here are estimated at from 360 000 to 500 000 ₽; the final price is decided in the bidding. The selection offered at any given sale changes, so check the current catalogue for what is available and the auctions page for the dates of forthcoming sales. Registration and the bidding procedure are explained under how to buy a painting. If you own a work by the artist and wish to sell it, the consignment terms, the valuation procedure and the commission are set out under sell a painting: a preliminary valuation requires photographs of the work together with its dimensions, medium and known history. The other artists in the collection are listed under artists, and neighbouring lots under painting and graphics.
