In order to cater to the Chinese market, Russian painters have also adjusted their styles. For example, traditional Russian oil paintings like to use dark and sombre colors to achieve the solemnity and depth that Russian artists fancy. Chinese paintings are normally much brighter and more elegant, with a refreshing and sprightly air.

Fervent Collectors

Among those purchasers of Russian oils, a specific group of art collectors has come to the forefront. Yuan Xin, one of the earliest collectors of Russian art, attaches a deep sense of importance to the sterling works. Yuan runs a company based in Moscow, which provides him ample access to Russia’s most well known contemporary painters. It all started 20 years ago when some of his business partners presented him with a few Russian oils. He hung them in his office and would enjoy them when he was feeling tired. The masterly brushwork and pleasant colors helped him relax. He soon fell in love with this art form.

Over the past two decades, he has acquired works by almost all of Russia’s most noted contemporary painters, and made himself a maven of Russian oil painting history. His collection includes the works of K. M. Maksimov, who had a far-reaching influence in Chinese oil circles of the 1950s, the renowned Tkachevi Brothers, and Chairman Valentin Sidorov and Vice Chairman Nikolay Solomon of the Union of Russian Artists. In 2006, Yuan Xin founded, with his personal collection, the Sino-Russian Oil Painting Production and Exchange Center on Harbin’s Sun Island. It is open and free to the public year round.

Han Jianmin is another important collector of Russian art from Northeast China. Over the years he has amassed over 300 Russian oils, including portraiture, landscape and still life by well-known contemporary Russian painters. Supported by the local government in 2009, Han established the Han Jianmin China-Russia Oil Painting Collection Museum, a free attraction for anyone interested in oil paintings.

Twenty years ago, when most Chinese were scrambling to buy Russian furs, Liu Mingxiu discovered a lucrative opportunity in the nation’s art work. Since then, he has made dozens of trips between Heilongjiang Province and Russia, scouring every corner of that country for great works of fine art. Despite the value of his current collection, Liu still lives very modestly; no wonder his friends tease him with the title “baron in pauper’s clothing.” The 20-year effort to build his Russian oil collection finally paid off; after relocating his Russian Oil Painting Gallery from Heihe to Harbin, five authorized experts from the Museum of Amurskaya Oblast came and estimated their value at close to US $ 3 million.