Sotheby’s second-ever London sale dedicated to Russian Contemporary Art, realised £4,101,275 ($8,257,917), a sum which was more than £200,000 over the high estimate (estimate: £2.6-3.8 million) and represents the highest ever total for a various owners sale of Russian Contemporary Art. Today’s successful sale, which saw new records set for 17 artists, including among others those for Vassiliev, Chuikov and Koshlyakov, demonstrates the growing demand for Russian contemporary art. This area of the Russian art market has become increasingly important since Sotheby’s pioneered sales in this category in Moscow in 1988.

Commenting in the success of the sale, Jo Vickery, Senior Director and Head of Sotheby’s Russian Art department in London, said: “The outstanding results of today’s sale far exceeded our expectations and show that Russian contemporary art is a sector of the art market experiencing strong growth. Sale on sale we are seeing increasing appreciation for artists who are new faces on the auction scene, such as AES+F, represented for the very first time today, and young photographer and artist Oleg Dou whose works sold well. Vassiliev’s “Before Sunset”, our cover lot made a record price at auction for the artist, and we achieved a further 16 auction records. It is worth noting that nearly 30% of the buyers came from outside Russia and the CIS, which suggests the growing international appeal of Russian contemporary art and augurs well for its future development. The auction was a huge success and a strong platform on which we intend to build over the course of the year.”

The top selling lot was Oleg Vassiliev’s (b. 1931) oil on canvas Before the Sunset, which also set a new record for artist at auction. One bidder in the saleroom and another on the telephone competed for almost four minutes for Before the Sunset, which finally sold to buyer in the room for £468,500 – more than £160,000 over its high estimate of £300,000. Two other works in the sale by Vassiliev also performed well - his Walking Away sold for £180,500, over three times its low estimate of £50,000 and The End of the Season realised £23,000, against a pre-sale estimate of £10,000-15,000.

Two works by the artist Semen Faibisovich (b. 1954) also sold exceptionally well. The artist’s oil on canvas Beauty (from the cycle Worker’s Festive march), executed in 1988, met fierce competition from bidders both in the saleroom and on the telephones, and after an intense bidding war ensued between three telephone bidders, the work finally sold for £264,500 – the second highest price achieved in today’s sale – more than four times its high estimate of £60,000. Faibisovich’s oil on canvas On the Moscow Street also did well, selling for £126,500, more than double its pre-sale high estimate of £60,000.

Posted: 03|13|08 at 10:22 am. Filed under: UK News.