Ivan Lindsay

Ivan James Lindsay (born 8 July 1962) is an art dealer, publisher and writer.
Family background
On his father’s side Lindsay is part of the Scottish clan Lindsay.
Publishing
In the late 1990s he started by publishing museum catalogues under his own imprints, such as that for Southampton City Art Gallery in 1998 and the Wallace Collection (2004).
Published work and interviews
List of books published, written or co-written
* Renaissance to Impressionism, Masterpieces from the Southampton Museum, An illustrated Guide, Unicorn Press, 1998 (Published).
* The Wallace Collection, A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, Unicorn Press, 2004 (Published).
* The History of Loot and Stolen Art, Unicorn Press, 2013 (Written).
* Masterpieces of Soviet Painting and Sculpture, Unicorn Press (Russian Language edition), Unicorn Press, 2016 (Co-written).
* Art of the Soviet Union, The Portraits, Unicorn Press, 2018 (Co-written).
* Art of the Soviet Union, The Landscapes, Unicorn Press, 2018 (Co-written).
* Art of the Soviet Union, Still Lifes, Unicorn Press, 2018 (Co-written).
* Art of the Soviet Union, Nudes, Unicorn Press, 2018 (Co-written).
* Soviet Women and their Art, The Struggle for Equality, Unicorn Press, 2019 (Co-written).
Articles, Lectures and Interviews
Lindsay has written over 60 articles for newspapers and magazines. He mainly writes about art, stolen art and the art market but sometimes covers cultural issues or disputes. He was the Art Writer and a Contributing Editor at Spears WMS Magazine 2008 - 2014. He has lectured at Cambridge University (Magdalene College, 2008), Moscow (Hermitage Round Table discussion at the Moscow World Fine Art Fair, 2008), Washington (Capital Speakers Club 2015), London (The Cavalry and Guards Club, 2015) and York University (The Festival of Ideas, 2015). In June 2011 Lindsay co-chaired with William Cash, between themselves and David Linley and Philip Mould, a panel discussion at the Masterpiece fair on 'What is a Masterpiece?' In 2011 Lindsay was a judge at the Design for London Awards.
Lindsay sometimes becomes involved in contemporary cultural issues. In 2012 he wrote articles in Spears WMS Magazine and Country and Town House Magazine about the £45 million needed to save Titian's painting 'Diana and Callisto' from leaving Britain.
In 2013 the artist George Baselitz was quoted in an interview saying, "What's the biggest problem with women artists? None of them can actually paint?" which reignited the issue of why women artists are so underrepresented in museums. In the last decade only 11% of museum acquisitions were by women and during that time women only made up 2% of art market turnover. Lindsay has gone on the record defending women artists limited success as being for cultural and historical reasons as opposed to lack of talent and has been widely quoted in newspapers such as London's Independent which said, 'Ivan Lindsay, the art writer and dealer and writer, said, "This is a hugely contentious issue. Some people think women just generally aren't as good, others believe they have been held back through history." He continued: "It is a fairly outrageous and provocative thing for Baselitz to say and we inevitably react against a comment like that. But he has got to an age where he doesn't care. Others would probably agree but wouldn't like to stick their head above the parapet."
Lindsay has followed and reviewed the Rybolovlev versus Bouvier Affair which is the largest dispute ever seen in the art world and hinges over Dmitri Rybolovlev buying a reported US$2bn of art from Yves Bouvier and alleging Bouvier charged him $1bn more in commission than had been agreed. The case hangs on whether Bouvier was an agent or principal in the 22 or so deals involved.
In November 2017 Lindsay wrote an analysis of Leonardo's 'Salvator Mundi' painting shortly after it sold at Christie's for a record US$450m price where he advanced the opinion that the painting was by a pupil of Leonardo and had been heavily restored to look as Leonardesque as possible. This controversial view has since been subsequently adopted by many writers and art historians.
Selected Articles and Interviews
* Russian Revolution, Country House Magazine, May 2007.
* Eastern Bloc, Country House Magazine, November 2007.
* In defense of the Russians, Gstaad Life, January 2006.
* Russian Art Shopping, Hermitage Magazine, in Russian and English language editions, Hermitage Magazine Vol. 2, 2008.
* Art Lovers of the World Unite, WMS Magazine, Spring Issue 2008.
* Capital Gainsborough, WMS Magazine, Summer 2008.
* DaDa? Da! Da!, Russians appear in the art market, WMS Magazine, Autumn 2008.
* The Hirst is yet to come, WMS Magazine, Winter 2008.
* Sale of the Century, Country and Town House magazine, January 2009.
* Lock up your Demoiselles, WMS Magazine, Spring 2009.
* Post-Money-Sexy, WMS Magazine, Summer 2009.
* Its going to the dogs (interview with businessman Jim Mellon), WMS Magazine, Autumn 2009.
* Family Jewels, Spears Magazine, Winter 2009.
* Good Egg, WMS Magazine, Summer 2010.
* Looks Good on Paper, WMS Magazine, Spring 2010.
* Bid Farewell, WMS Magazine, Summer 2010.
* Aristocrats to sell off their Treasures, When the going gets Toff, WMS Magazine, Autumn, 2010.
* Buying art as an investment, Go Figure, Spears Magazine, Winter 2010.
* Should we worry about Masterpieces leaving the UK, I am a Masterpiece, get me out of here, Spears Magazine, March/April 2011.
* The Rise of Russian Art Money, OIL Paintings, Spears Magazine, May/June 2011.
* Sotheby's Stock is a lead Indicator of the Stock Market, The Canary in the Mineshaft, Spears Magazine, May/June 2011.
* What is a Masterpiece?, Here's the Thing, Spears Magazine, September/October 2011.
* Are Blockbuster exhibitions damaging art?, Queuebism, Spears Magazine, December 2011.
* Should the public spend 50m pounds on a Titian, Yes, by Jupiter!, Spears Magazine, December 2011.
* Why Picasso is attractive is attractive to first-time buyers...and auctioneers, Blue Chip period, Spears Magazine, March/April 2012.
* The Story behind the Royal Collection, One is remarkably eclectic, Spears Magazine, May/June 2012.
* Munch's Scream breaks auction records, but what do top prices tell us about paintings, Painting by numbers, Spears Magazine, July/August 2012.
* Aristocrats need to sell to keep the roof over their head, Spears Magazine, September 2012.
* Lets talk about Sex, Why does art by women artists still sell for less, Spears Magazine, September/October 2012.
* What happens to Royal and Private Art Collections during Revolutions?, First Against the Wall, Spears Magazine, November/Dcember 2012.
* The benefits and dangers of art restoration, Spears Magazine, December 2012.
* 60 Masterpieces to return from the Hermitage to Houghton Hall in Norfolk, From Russia with Luck, Spears Magazine, March/April 2013.
* The Sunshine Estate (Interview with David and Jackie Siegel), Meet the Timeshare Tycoon and former Swimwear Model building the largest house in America, Spears Magazine, May/June 2013.
* A lot to be desired, Spears Magazine, July/August 2013.
* Western Auction Houses master art of selling to the East, Spears Magazine, September/October 2013.
* Why Detroit should sell its art, Spears Magazine, October 2013.
* A unintended consequence of QE, an art market boom, Spears Magazine, September 2013.
* The Queen of Versailles, an update on the life of Jackie Siegel, Country and Town House Magazine, December 2013.
* How much for the Bust?, Spears Magazine, November/December 2013.
* Will activist investors keep Sotheby's on the money?, Spears Magazine, January/February 2014.
* Ivan Lindsay interviewed by Theodora Clarke of Russian Art and Culture regarding The History of Loot and Stolen Art, 08/09/2014.
* From Napoleon to the Nazis, The 10 most notorious looted artworks, The Guardian Newspaper, Art and Design Section, November 2014.
* What a Loot, Ivan Lindsay interviewed by Richard Hopton for Country and Town House Magazine, April 2015.
* Ivan Lindsay interviewed by Tvoya Istoriya (Your Story) reposted on Russian Art and Culture Platform, September 2016.
* Ivan Lindsay interviewed by Theodora Clarke about his book, Masterpieces of Soviet Art, for Russian Art and Culture Platform, September 2016.
* Ivan Lindsay interviewed by Irene Kukota for Matryoska Radio November 29th 2016 (Russian language).
* Alchemy as Leonardo's 'Salvator Mundi' sells for an astonishing US$450m, Russian art dealer blog, Nov 2017.
* Ivan Lindsay interviewed by Ilya Dmitrychev, Chief of London Bureau for Russian News Agency TASS, at Hatchards, Piccadilly, about the book Soviet Women and their art, the struggle for equality, 8/5/2019.

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