A Fabergé silver via Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s two-day sale of Russian Art from the 19th and 20th century in New York totaled $46,449,401. The two-day auction (April 15 & 16) had very good indicators for a big sucess. The positive result demonstrates that rich Russians and Ukrainians are willing to pay top dollar for artworks of their country. About 69% of the 191 pre-World War II lots were sold and six paintings fetched more than $1 million each. Most buyers were Russian, Ukrainians, as well as U.S.

Russian Art via Sotheby’s [Rian]
Auctions at Sotheby’s [Bloomberg]
Sotheby’s [Sotheby’s]
Auction’s record at Sotheby’s [Rian]

Ivan Aivazovsky’s painting via Sotheby’s

This auction reflects Russia’s strong economy which has grown for nine consecutive years. In 2007, Sotheby’s reported a 24% rise in Russian art sales to $190.9 million.

“The Russian economy is very strong and not impacted by financial troubles elsewhere in the world,” said Alexander Gertsman, a New York-based dealer of Russian postwar art
“All big names sold high because major Russian collectors will pay big prices for top quality,” Gertsman said.

Alexei Petrovich via Sotheby’s

The highlights of this auctions were two paintings by Ivan Aivazovsky, which decorated the walls of the White House in the 1960s, as well as a rare Fabergé icon in a silver frame was sold for $780,000 to a bidder on the phone. Vasili Dmitrievich Polenov’s “The River Oyat”,was sold for $1,385,000, Alexei Petrovich Bogoliubov’s “View of Venice”, brought $1,049,000 and an Imperial porcelain centerpiece ($3 million) once owned by the Dutch government.
Sotheby’s next sale of Russian Art will be held in London in June.

Ivan Aivazovsky via Sotheby’s

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