From Boucher to Yukhnovich
The Beauty and Power of Venus From Then Until Now
“There are so many iterations of the goddess and all are revealing about how the society of the time understands beauty and power, particularly in relation to women and their bodies.”
- Flora Yukhnovich in the Financial Times
It has been such a long time since I wrote an article where I compare a world famous old(er) artist with an exciting leading contemporary talent. Now is the time!
Let me first introduce the oldie, his name is Francois Boucher (1703-1770). A French artist that is known for his love for pastel, for being exceptionally ornamental and for creating voluptuous artworks. He worked with a lot of different media going from tapestries, to porcelain, sketches and paintings. Boucher became the first painter to the king and the director of the Royal Academy, the two highest posts in the French art world at the time.
Boucher is part of the Rococo style, also known as Late Baroque. The Baroque time period was in the first half of the 18th century (1700-1750) when in many art forms, going from music, to poetry, to architecture, there was an abundant use of grandeur and references to Greek and Roman mythology. The artwork below is one of the pieces that defined the Rococo style. It is lighthearted and playful but also carries a sensual (maybe even sexual) undertone.
At this point, let me introduce Flora Yukhnovich. Boucher’s from the 1700’s but she’s a 90’s bitch! I love it! (for Boomer or Gen X readers , I’m referencing a song, a classic ‘sing/shout-along’ nowadays).
Flora Yukhnovich is born in 1990 in the UK and only graduated from the Royal Academy in London in 2017. She has always been fascinated with the boundaries between the abstract and the figurative. I can only imagine that in real life this playfulness is even more visible as you step closer and more far away from her paintings.
Yukhnovich’s work is absolute eye candy. It’s sumptuous and alluring and you can sense the snippets of art history. I think her work is brilliant in the way it lures you in with references to art history which feel safe but she also shows “how it’s done” in an exciting, new, contemporary way. Whereas the sexual energy in Boucher’s work was still veiled, it is apparently present in Yukhnovich’s paintings. In the artwork below, right in the middle, you can imagine seeing a figure (I see a woman), laying down with legs wide open, while, as it seems, sensually stroking their private parts. The contemporary sexually-empowered Venus takes the stage.
The Secondary Art Market
Flora Yukhnovich rose to stardom in just a couple of years. There is such a high demand for her works worldwide that they are sold out even before they are hung in the art galleries (primary market). That consequently leads to a high collectors’ interest in the secondary market (auction houses), eager to buy paintings for hundreds of thousands or even millions. Below is a selection of just a handful of impressive sales:
Artwork 1: Puits d'amour (Wells of Love), 2021. The estimate of the work was £20K-30K in October 2021, the hammer price at Christie’s auction house was an astonishing £910,500K.
Artwork 2: Tu vas me faire rougir (You're going to make me blush), 2017. In March 2022 the estimation of her work by Christie’s had already soared up to £250K-350K. However, it was sold for the hallucinating number of £1.9 million.
Artwork 3: Warm, Wet ‘N’ Wild, 2020. Oh, how I love this sensual wordplay! In March 2023, this artwork was estimated at £150K-200K but was sold by Sotheby’s for… wait for it… almost £2.7 Million.
Exhibitions
Yukhnovich is enjoying a duo exhibtion at the moment in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford (UK) with several new works. You can visit it for free until the 14th of January, but I suggest booking tickets online in advance.
Mega gallery Hauser & Wirth also confirmed her representation in June of this year and announced that they will exhibit her first solo with the gallery in 2024 in Los Angeles, USA.