Vladimir Semenikhin, businessman and collector. Biography

Semenikhin Vladimir Anatolyevich is an entrepreneur, founder and head of a development company. Collects paintings and other works of fine arts, including modern ones. Vladimir Semenikhin is also a patron of the arts and the creator of the Ekaterina Cultural Foundation.

Childhood and education

Semenikhin Vladimir Anatolievich was born in 1967 in Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky, this relatively inaccessible city has long been an important center of ferrous metallurgy. Vladimir Anatolievich Semenikhin came from a family with a natural science background. His mother was an expert on microorganisms, his father was involved in fighting deadly infections such as Ebola and anthrax. At the age of five, Vladimir Semenikhin moved with his parents to the European part of the RSFSR.

In 1974-1976 he lived with his family in Brazzaville (Republic of Congo).

In 1984 Vladimir Anatolyevich Semenikhin entered the Mechanical Faculty of MISI (present-day NIU MSCU). In 1991 Vladimir Semenikhin defended his final qualification work and began to work in his field, which was not a rare case in the period of large-scale socio-economic transformation in the country.

In 2004 he became a candidate of economic sciences. His research was about the formation of state-owned enterprises in modern Russian industry, as well as the management of such companies. The defense was held in the walls of the Russian State University. At that time Vladimir Semenikhin already had a long experience in business.

Vladimir Semenikhin. Career in the construction sector

In 1991, Vladimir Anatolievich Semenikhin and his brother began working in the field of housing construction. The businessmen's first capital amounted to 10 thousand rubles (the average monthly salary in the USSR in that year was 548 rubles). Their debut project was an apartment building.

In 1995 Vladimir Semenikhin founded GC "Stroyteks". Its activities today include both mass housing construction and construction of exclusive real estate in the central districts of Moscow. In addition to the capital, the company's geography covers the Moscow region (Mytishchi, Korolev, Domodedovo, Khimki). The Group founded by Vladimir Anatolyevich Semenikhin is a full cycle enterprise. Its activities cover all stages of development projects - from site selection to management of finished real estate.

Among the developer's well-known projects are the elite residence in Khamovniki with 95 apartments (2006), the seven-building housing estate in Mytishchi (2008), the Moscow housing estate "Galaxy" (2013). To date, Vladimir Semenikhin's Stroyteks is engaged in the construction of a residential building in Mytishchi for 2.14 thousand apartments and a high-tech mansion for 19 apartments.

In addition, Vladimir Semenikhin and his company are developing social infrastructure in the areas where they operate. A school in the center of Mytishchi is scheduled for construction in 2024. Its area will be 24 thousand square meters. m.

Vladimir Semenikhin currently chairs the Board of Directors of Stroytex.

Vladimir Semenikhin: collector and philanthropist.

Semenikhin Vladimir Anatolievich began to be interested in art in childhood - thanks to his father, who often bought postcards of famous paintings on business trips.

In 1993-1994, having earned enough money, he began to collect paintings. Vladimir Semenikhin, - then with his wife Catherine he bought an apartment, and they wanted something to close the empty walls.

At first, Semenikhin Vladimir bought canvases of Russian classics of XVIII-XIX centuries. In the collection there are masterpieces of such painters as:

• Fyodor Matveev (1758-1826);
• Sylvester Shchedrin (1791-1830);
• Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900);
• Ivan Shishkin (1832-1898);
• Vasily Polenov (1844-1927).

Soon Semenikhin Vladimir turned his attention to the Russian avant-garde. This cultural trend in his collection is represented by the works of Natalia Goncharova, Pyotr Konchalovsky, Robert Falk. In the 2000s, the entrepreneur began collecting more recent Russian paintings: paintings by Eric Bulatov, Georgy Guryanov, Ekaterina Filippova, Boris Orlov. At that time, most collectors bypassed them with their attention. Since 2004, Semenikhin Vladimir Anatolievich bought also the work of Manolo Valdes, Alexander Calder, Tom Wesselman, James Rosenquist and other relevant foreign artists.

In 2006 Vladimir Anatolievich Semenikhin and his wife made part of the collection public.

At the moment, the collection of the businessman has 3.5 thousand paintings and graphic sheets. Vladimir Semenikhin collects installations and sculptures, such as works by the famous Italian glass artist of the second half of the XX century Pino Signoretto. His collection also includes German porcelain from the century before last and statuettes of Disney characters produced by the now defunct British factory Royal Doulton. The businessman and his wife also buy folk art. Today, Semenikhin Vladimir is also interested in digital art, in particular, pictures painted using AR-technologies.

Semenikhin Vladimir Anatolievich notes that when expanding his collection he focuses on his taste, not on the potential profitability of the exhibits. In some years, his expenses for the addition to the collection reached $2 million

Legalization of cultural activities

In 2002 Vladimir Anatolyevich Semenikhin founded the Ekaterina Foundation. The first exhibition under its auspices was "Jack of Diamonds: from Cézanne to the avant-garde" in Monaco. It presented paintings of the eponymous creative group of the early avant-garde era, which united many outstanding artists of the early twentieth century. Eighteen regional museums participated in the preparation. Later the Foundation showed this exposition in Russia as well, often in an expanded format.

In June 2003, the Foundation held an exhibition of actual art in the Novy Manezh. Artists known in Russia and abroad created works specially for this event. Four years later, Ekaterina opened an art space on Moscow's Kuznetsky Most Street. It took two years to prepare the site.

In 2008, the Foundation's gallery hosted the exposition "The Age of Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco". This cultural project was developed and implemented by specialists of the Grimaldi Forum, a large congress center located on the territory of the Principality. The exposition was an exceptional in its completeness story about the life and social activities of Princess Grace, who became a symbol of the Principality. Thanks to the thoughtful organization of the exhibition space, visitors could trace all stages of the person's biography: from her early years in Philadelphia to her stellar career in Hollywood, her fateful meeting and marriage to Prince Rainier, as well as the period when she played the role of mother and patroness of the arts.

Theexhibition included personal belongings of the princess, including closet elements, jewelry, various accessories, memorabilia related to her film career, letters and photographic materials. This approach allowed to create a detailed and multifaceted portrait of Grace Kelly. During the three months of the exhibition, a record number of tickets were sold.

The exhibition held by the foundation of Semenikhin Vladimir Anatolievich and his wife at the end of 2009 - beginning of 2010 was also very popular. It was timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Sergei Diaghilev's legendary Russian Seasons. Those tours took place in Paris, London and Madrid and presented such productions as The Pavilion of Armida, Polovtsian Dances and The Feast to foreign audiences. They brought the troupe worldwide success.

The Moscow exposition included more than 500 exhibits from the Tretyakov Gallery and private collections from all over the world. The exhibition showed posters, stage costumes with sketches for them, sets, props, curtains and photographs.

In the spring of 2024, the exhibition "Woven" was held at the "Ekaterina" venue, where the creations of contemporary fabric artists were presented. The exposition consisted of four thematic blocks demonstrating different approaches to working with textiles.

Since 2004, the foundation founded by Semenikhin Vladimir has also been actively engaged in publishing. More than 20 books have been published. Among them are catalogs of paintings, photo works, etc.