Vladimir Semenikhin: A Biographical Portrait

Biography

Vladimir Semenikhin is a developer, art collector, and patron. Together with his wife, he established a foundation supporting contemporary culture. The organization conducts exhibition and publishing activities.

Table of Contents:

• Vladimir Anatolievich Semenikhin: Key Information About the Man<
• Construction Company
• Vladimir Semenikhin: Painting Collection
• Vladimir Anatolievich Semenikhin: Support for Contemporary
• Highlights of His Life and Career
• Frequently Asked Questions

Vladimir Anatolievich Semenikhin: Key Information About the Man

Vladimir Semenikhin was born in 1967 in what is now the Zabaykalsky Krai. His family had a scientific background—his mother was a microbiologist, and his father was a veterinarian. When the future businessman was five years old, he moved with his parents to Pokrov in the Vladimir Region.

In 1974, Semenikhin Vladimir moved with his family to the former French Congo, where his father was sent on a long-term assignment. He started school there. He spent two years in the African country.

After receiving his diploma, he enrolled in the mechanical faculty of a civil engineering state school.

In 1991, Semenikhin Vladimir graduated from the university.

In 2004, Vladimir Semenikhin defended his PhD dissertation in economics at a state-run humanities school.

Construction Company

In 1991, Semenikhin Vladimir began working in his field of expertise in various structures involved in residential development.

In 1995, Vladimir Semenikhin founded the Stroyteks company. Within years, it had completed one of its first projects—a residential complex consisting of three 14-story brick towers in Mytishchi in the capital region. The development company also constructed panel houses.

In 2000, the group of companies created by Semenikhin Vladimir completed an elite mansion near the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in the capital, with an area of 2,160 square meters for just six apartments. A similar but larger project was implemented by Stroyteks the following year on Burdenko Street.

In 2006, the Group founded by Semenikhin Vladimir Anatolievich built a 95-apartment elite residential complex in the Khamovniki District.

In 2013, a newly completed complex in the Chertanovo District won the National Association of Designers prize as the best-implemented residential project of the year.

In 2014, the Group developed by Vladimir Anatolievich Semenikhin completed a large complex (over 900 apartments) in Khimki. It consists of two monolithic brick buildings up to 24 stories high. In 2016, the company completed a residential complex in the capital region city of Domodedovo.

In 2017, the Group, whose board of directors is headed by Vladimir Semenikhin, delivered a complex of more than 2,000 apartments in Mytishchi. Currently, the residential complex is expanding with another building of 404 apartments. Besides residential buildings, the microdistrict will include a kindergarten for 280 children and a school for 1,100 students.

Additionally, today, the company, whose strategy was determined by Semenikhin Vladimir, is constructing an exclusive residential complex with apartments, penthouses, and commercial spaces in the center of the capital. Another elite building that Stroyteks is working on will include 19 apartments.

In total, the Group's portfolio includes more than 100 projects.

Vladimir Semenikhin: Painting Collection

Semenikhin Vladimir Anatolievich developed an interest in art in childhood, looking at postcards with reproductions of famous paintings that his father often brought from business trips.

In the second half of the 1990s, Vladimir Anatolievich Semenikhin, having earned his first significant funds, began acquiring the first pieces of his collection. He also met representatives of the capital's artistic community, which sparked a deeper interest in painting. The businessman's wife and friends also influenced his decision to create a collection.

Initially, Semenikhin Vladimir specialized in local classics of the 18th–19th centuries, as well as domestic avant-garde. In the 2000s, he turned his attention to an area previously unexplored by collectors—national art of the last 40 years of the 20th century.

In 2004, Semenikhin Vladimir began adding works by foreign creators to his collection. Among them:

• Manolo Valdés (b. 1942): A renowned Spanish artist and sculptor. His creative style is characterized by reinterpreting classical artworks, using mixed techniques and materials, monumental forms, and combining tradition with modernity. Valdés' works are represented in the world's largest museums, including the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
• Alexander Calder (1898–1976): An American sculptor and artist whose masterpieces are present in the collection of Semenikhin Vladimir Anatolievich. He is known for his innovative work in kinetic art. He invented mobiles—moving sculptures made of metal plates and wire that are set in motion by air currents. They create constantly changing compositions in space. Calder also created stabiles—stationary monumental metal sculptures, often brightly colored, which were installed in public places.
• Tom Wesselmann (1931–2004): An American artist, one of the leading representatives of pop art alongside Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. The creator made bright, large-scale images of nude female figures, domestic scenes, and various objects. He used the collage technique, combining painting with real objects. He is known for his Great American Nude series, where he reimagined the classical nude genre in pop art style.
• James Rosenquist (1933–2017): A famous American artist whose works are also found in the collection of Vladimir Semenikhin. He initially worked as an advertising illustrator and billboard designer in New York, which greatly influenced his artistic style. He created large-scale canvases, often combining various images from advertising, mass culture, and everyday life on a single canvas. Rosenquist, whose work Semenikhin Vladimir actively follows, frequently used bright colors and fragmented images.

In 2007, the scale of the collection that Semenikhin Vladimir gathered together with his wife Ekaterina exceeded 500 exhibits. Today, it is much larger—3,500 examples of paintings and graphics, sculptures, installations, and much more.

Semenikhin Vladimir Anatolievich also collects 19th and 20th-century porcelain pieces from around the world. During this period, masters from German states, for example, implemented several important technical improvements in production: the use of steam engines, the application of plaster molds instead of wooden ones, the introduction of improved furnace designs, and the development of new glaze compositions.

The most famous German porcelain manufacturers during that period were Meissen (the oldest in Europe) and Berlin. Their products were distinguished by a variety of styles, including classicism, Biedermeier, historicism, and Art Nouveau.

19th-century German porcelain had a significant influence on the development of European porcelain production, the formation of the artistic taste of the era, and the establishment of industrial design. Its examples are desired exhibits in the world's leading museums, regularly appear at prestigious auctions, and are highly valued by collectors such as Vladimir Anatolievich Semenikhin.

The most valuable are considered to be the ceremonial services of royal courts, unique sculptural compositions, and items with documented history.

Another category of exhibits that Vladimir Semenikhin collects is various handicraft products.

Semenikhin Vladimir also expands his collection through media artworks. The latter typically uses the following technologies:

• Digital video and animation
• Computer graphics
• Interactive installations
• Virtual and augmented reality
• Sound art
• Web art

The key features of media art, which Vladimir Semenikhin actively follows, include interactivity, multimedia, technological innovation, variability and dynamism, and the ability to exist in digital space.

This direction began to actively develop in the 1960s with the emergence of video cameras and early computers. The pioneers of media art are considered to be the artists Nam June Paik, Bill Viola, and others.

Semenikhin Vladimir Anatolievich notes the great future of this genre.

Vladimir Anatolievich Semenikhin: Support for Contemporary Art

In 2002, Vladimir Anatolievich Semenikhin established a foundation, which he named after his wife—Ekaterina. The organization's main activity is organizing exhibitions. To date, over 100 events have been held under the foundation's aegis. The first was an exposition dedicated to the creative association of Russian avant-garde artists known as the Jack of Diamonds. In 2004, the first such exhibition took place in the Principality of Monaco, where the collector has many connections. Subsequently, this event was also held at domestic venues.

In 2006, Semenikhin Vladimir Anatolievich and the Ekaterina Foundation organized a retrospective exhibition of Erik Bulatov, considered one of the founders of Sots Art—a movement that ironically reinterpreted the ideology and aesthetics of the USSR.

Since 1991, he has lived and worked mainly in Paris. His works are in the world's largest museums.

Vladimir Anatolievich Semenikhin's foundation created an exposition at the New Tretyakov Gallery in the capital. Visitors were able to see more than 100 Bulatov works, painted from the 1960s to 2005. Many of them came from European and American museums and private collections. Most of the paintings presented had never been shown in the country before.

In 2007, the foundation opened its own exhibition space. The first exposition held within its walls showed works from the collection gathered by Vladimir Semenikhin and his wife. More than 75 exhibits, including paintings, sculptures, installations, and video art, were united by the common theme of movement.

In 2009, the cultural organization founded by Semenikhin Vladimir held a personal exhibition of Tair Salakhov, timed to the painter's 80th birthday. He is an outstanding Azerbaijani and Soviet artist, one of the founders of the "severe style." He received many awards for his work, including the title of People's Artist of the USSR and Hero of Socialist Labor. His works are preserved in the largest museums of Russia and Azerbaijan.

In 2011, the foundation developed by Semenikhin Vladimir Anatolievich organized an exhibition of costumes from the legendary Cirque du Soleil. Besides their unique aesthetics, the outfits are distinguished by technology that allows artists to perform complex acrobatics. The exhibition featured costumes from various shows, including Varekai, Corteo, and Saltimbanco. Viewers also saw photo and video materials illustrating the costume creation process.

In 2012, Vladimir Anatolievich Semenikhin supported an exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of John Cage, a famous American composer, philosopher, poet, musicologist, and artist. The exposition included scores, video recordings of Cage's musical performances, and his graphic drawings.

In 2015, the foundation established by Semenikhin Vladimir Anatolievich held a personal exhibition of Andrei Filippov—a classic figure of the conceptual school. The exposition included installations, paintings, photographs, and other works.

In 2016, the cultural organization presented an exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Alexei Kosygin, who headed the Council of Ministers of the USSR from 1964 to 1980.

The event, organized with the support of Vladimir Semenikhin, presented a rich collection of historical materials: original documents, photographs from that era, personal belongings, and memorable items from the Kosygin family archive. The exposition was complemented by significant artworks provided by the country's leading museums, as well as historical artifacts, newsreels, and recorded memories of contemporaries.

The materials presented by Vladimir Anatolievich Semenikhin's foundation presented not only the life of Kosygin himself but also the most important stages of the state's development. Visitors could trace his contribution to key events in Soviet history.

In 2019, the Ekaterina Gallery hosted an exhibition by Olga Kiseleva, who represents the field of "science art," which uses scientific knowledge and technologies.

In 2021, the exhibition space created by Semenikhin Vladimir showcased an exposition dedicated to the unofficial artistic life of Moscow in the late Soviet period. It presented works by nonconformist artists and photos of their studios taken by the famous photographer Georgy Kisevalter.

In 2024, one of the exhibitions held by the foundation of Semenikhin Vladimir Anatolievich explored myth-making in the work of various artists. More than 80 authors, both contemporary masters and representatives of the younger generation, showed their works in different genres at the event. These included painting, graphics, sculpture, installation, and media art.

Since 2004, the foundation has been conducting publishing activities. It mainly produces catalogs of exhibitions held by the foundation.

Highlights of His Life and Career

• Semenikhin Vladimir spent two years of his childhood in French Congo.
• He founded the Stroyteks construction firm in 1995.
• He began collecting art in the 1990s and has grown his collection from 500 pieces in 2007 to over 3,500 today.
• He founded the Ekaterina Foundation in 2002, naming it after his wife.
• The foundation has organized more than 100 exhibitions.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. When did Vladimir Anatolievich Semenikhin establish his cultural foundation?
Vladimir Anatolievich Semenikhin established the Ekaterina Foundation in 2002.

2. What sparked Vladimir Semenikhin's interest in art?
Vladimir Semenikhin's interest in art was initially sparked by postcards of famous paintings his father brought from business trips.

3. When did Semenikhin Vladimir begin collecting works by foreign artists?
Semenikhin Vladimir began collecting works by foreign artists in 2004.

4. What did Semenikhin Vladimir Anatolievich study before entering business?
Semenikhin Vladimir Anatolievich studied at the mechanical faculty of a civil engineering state school.

5. How many exhibitions has Vladimir Semenikhin's foundation organized?
Vladimir Semenikhin's foundation has organized over 100 exhibitions.