27/11/2001
by Elisa Paulsen

In the last two years the international art market has turned its attention to two artists Markus Muntean (Gratz, 1962) and Adi Rosenblum (Haifa, 1962). At the end of the Nineties the duo, Viennese by adoption, became well-known, particularly for their large acrylic canvases depicting trendy adolescents in pensive or bored moods. Hand written in the lower part of the paintings are the hypothetical reflections of the painted youngsters: "light" frivolous considerations. It is no coincidence that one of their most well-known pictures is entitled Nothing to say.

The artistic bond between the Muntean/Rosenblum duo dates back to 1992, but their easily recognisable style has only reached the broad public during the last two years. While official recognition by international critics came with an exhibition, held at the Wiener Secession in Vienna in 2000, it was the Georg Kargl gallery in Vienna, which has represented the artists since 1999, that first created a solid market for the duo, exhibiting their works at the most important international fairs, from Art Basel (1999, 2000) to the Armory Show in New York (1999, 2000).

During the last two years, quotes for Muntean/Rosenblum have almost doubled. Kargl Gallery says: "If in 1999 one of their large acrylics on canvas (2 x 2.5 m) cost $ 10,000 (€ 11,370), today a painting of the same dimensions is worth approximately $ 18,000 (€ 20,460). Similarly, in 1999, their works on paper (40 x 30 cm) cost $ 1,000 (€ 1,130), while today they have risen to $ 1,800 (€ 2,000)". Quotes have also doubled for the series Out of Sorts, 18 works on paper and four acrylics on canvas, exhibited in 1999 at the Franco Noero gallery in Turin, which represents the artists in Italy. In Franco Noero’s opinion "It is the pictorial ability as well as the appeal of the subjects painted by Muntean/Rosenblum that attracts a high level of traditionally-orientated collectors".

In their recent exhibition, Lost in the savage wilderness of civil life, held at the Kargl gallery the duo presented an installation made up of a DVD video, works on paper, paintings of different dimensions and a series of 9 photographs. In the gallery, the prices of the acrylics on paper started from $ 1,800, while those on canvas varied according to size, ranging from $ 8,000 (€ 9,100, Untitled, What is it about..., acrylic on canvas, 120 x 110 cm) to $ 18,000 (€ 20,465, Untitled, Everything was as it had, acrylic on canvas, 2 x 2.5 m). As regards the 9 photographs in the exhibition, which closed on the 10^th of November, prices for the works, all of the same size (170 x 125 cm) but printed in different editions, started from $ 4,600 (€ 5,200) for a single photograph in an edition of three copies, and went to $ 33,700 (€ 38,370) for a complete series in an edition of four or five copies.