Summer Auction Results

The results of the Russian auctions earlier this month were in line with predictions for a year of economic decline. Total sales between all of the auction houses came to $48 million, less than half of last summer’s $105, but within pre-sale estimates. Falling oil prices and a weak ruble meant Russians were timid this year, though a number of Ukrainians made big purchases. Alina Aivazova, the wife of Kiev’s mayor, set records for artists Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin and Ilya Repin, buying works for $1.8 million and $2.3 million respectively. Alexandre and Sergei Tabalov, owners of the Art Kapital auction house in Kiev were also reported to have been “active bidders*”. The top lot at auction was Boris Kustodiev’s “The Village Fair” sold for $4.5 million, a record for the  artist, at Sotheby’s.  Contemporary works did poorly at the sales, but nearly seventy percent of lots in traditional categories found buyers. Overall, the June auctions have been declared a success within the standards of a weakened market. 

William MacDougall (of MacDougall’s) said after the sales that, “Though it has not yet reached its peak of a year ago, the market is in recovery from its winter blues, and some better works are even surpassing their pre-crisis peaks.”

*For details see the Telegraph’s article on the sales

Art Fraud

A painting sold by Christie’s for $3 million as Boris Kustodiev’s Odalisque was recently identified as a fake. Odalisque, unfortunately, is just one of a large number of fakes infiltrating the Russian art market. James Butterwick, a Russian art dealer in London told Bloomberg News, “Every month, I’m asked to look at 10 paintings, and nine are fakes. Many Russian collectors buy without asking competent experts. If a work is credible, then it has a provenance that can be easily checked out.” Thankfully, “The Catalog of Fraudulent Artworks,” a guide to 900 fakes, has been published by the Russian government. The fifth volume of the set, which contains 100 paintings, including Odalisque, was released last month.

For more information see Bloomberg’s recent article on the issue

Russian Art Fair

From June 6 till June 8, Lazare Gallery will be participating in the Russian Art Fair in London. The fair will be running simultaneously with auctions of Russian art by Christies (June 9), Sotheby’s (June 8), Bonham’s (June 8), and MacDougall’s (June 8-11). The June auctions are the largest Russian art event of the year after the Fall auction season, and with over 200,000 Russians living in London,  1000 of them multi milliares, the fair is well timed and placed for success.

April Auctions (follow-up)

Russian Art Week wrapped up in New York  last Friday very successfully. Christie’s sold 69% of it’s 390 lots for a total of $13.2 million, just over it’s high estimate of $13 million. The top lot at the auction, Svetoslav Roerich’s Portrait of Nicholas Roerich in a Tibetan Robe sold for $2,994,500 nearly three times its high estimate of $1.1 million. The sale broke the previous record for the artist, set earlier in the week at Sotheby’s sale. The success of the sale is in part the result of reformed expectations. After a disappointing turnout at November’s auction, Christie’s, “had to readjust,” said the head of Christie’s Russian department, Alexis de Tiesenhausen, “The estimates now are about 20 percent less than in November.”

Sotheby’s held their sale before Christie’s on Wednesday. About 65 % of their 308 lots sold for a total of $13.8 million, within their estimates for the auction. The top lot was Ivan Aivazovsky’s Columbus Sailing from Palos, which sold for $1,594,000 million, well over its high estimate of $1.1 million. Svetoslav Roerich’s Three Boddisatvas sold for $262,500, more than triple it’s estimate. In fact, all but one of the ten top lots exceeded their estimates.

Sotheby’s Sonya Bekkerman and Gerard Hill called the sale, “the first test of the season,” and expressed optimism about Sotheby’s performance: “If you consider these results alongside the more than $12 million we achieved for Russian works in last November’s Impressionist and Modern sales in New York, and the nearly $38 million brought in in London in December, it’s clear that the market for Russian art remains buoyant.”

Russian Ambassador to Present Award in Minneapolis

“The Russian ambassador to the United States will be in Minneapolis on Monday to present an award to one of the founding officials of The Museum of Russian Art. Ambassador Sergey Kislyak will confer the Order of Friendship on Bradford Shinkle IV. Shinkle was the museum’s first president when it was organized in 2000 and served until 2007.”

- Associated Press

Link to full article

Link to The Museum of Russian Art website

April Auctions

Columbus Sailing from Palos – Ivan Aivazovsky

Later this month Sotheby’s and Christie’s will be holding their Spring auctions of Russian art in New York. They have recently made catalogs for the shows available online.

Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s sale will take place on April 22nd at their office in New York. A pre-sale exhibition of the work to be sold is scheduled for April 17th. Featured artists include Ivan Aivazovsky, Alexandre Iacovleff, Ivan Pokhitonov, Vasili Polenov, Nicholas Roerich, and many others. The top lot is expected to be Aivazovsky’s Columbus Sailing from Palos, which has a pre-sale estimate of $1-1.5 million.

Christie’s

Christie’s sale will take place on April 24th at Rockefeller Plaza. The sale will feature many of the same artists up for auction at Sotheby’s, including Ivan Aivazovsky, Nicholas Roerich, and Ivan Pokhitonov, as well as the work of Sergei Gerasimov, Arkadii Plastov and many others. The top lot is expected to be Svetoslav Roerich’s Portrait of Nicholas Roerich in a Tibetan Robe, which has a pre-sale estimate of $900,000 to $1.1 million.

Link to Sotheby’s catalog.

Link to Christie’s catalog.

Radio Piece on Art Market Recession

The BBC produced a radio piece on the art market recession. It provides an interesting take on how value is changing in the art world, perhaps for the better. Here’s an excerpt from the accompanying article:

“There is a view that this is all a good thing.

If you do like art, runs the argument in the trade, a collapse of silly prices might winnow the over-hyped rubbish a bit like a fire clears land of weed for new growth.”

And, from the radio piece:

“A really great bubble raises the price of everything, but also, that which is most worthless.”

Link

Art of Two Germanys

An exhibition going on now at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art compares, contrasts, and confuses art made in east and west Germany during the cold war. An article by the New York Times calls the show, a “sympathetic view of postwar art on both sides of the Wall,” and explains that, “ West German art, so the standard account goes, flourished after the war thanks to free expression. Stars like Joseph Beuys, George Baselitz, Anselm Kiefer and Gerhard Richter had arrived on the world stage by the 1970s and established a new era of German cultural prestige abroad, while East German art languished under Communism, churning out only Socialist Realism.

The show makes clear that the truth was actually more complicated, as it usually is, East German art having been more varied, not always politically compliant, closer at times to what was happening in West Germany than the West German art establishment either acknowledged or bothered to notice.”

The show will run through April 19.

The Year at Christie’s

On February 15th Al-Bawaba news published an article on Christie’s performance this past year.

Christie’s CEO Edward Dolman seemed optimistic about the future of the art market in the slowing global economy, saying “Despite the economic turmoil in the second half of 2008, Christie’s completed the year with £2.8 billion in sales, continued profitability, and a record of offering great quality works to clients around the world. [...] As we move into 2009, recent results and forthcoming consignments give good reason to remain positive about the global art market where demand remains strong for well-estimated, unique and sought after works of art.”

Sales of Russian art dropped 55% in 2008, but the report had largely positive things to say about the future of Russian art at Christie’s. Here’s an excerpt:

“The Russian category continued to grow in importance, albeit at a slower rate against the weakening global economy. For the year the Russian Art sales series totalled GBP32.4 million/$59.0 million.

Christie’s continued commitment to Russia and the CIS states was signaled by superb exhibitions in Moscow and St. Petersburg during the year. Christie’s June Russian Art sale totaled GBP11.3 million/$22 million and a new world record price for a work by a female artist, and a record price for an artist at auction was established in the June Impressionist and Modern Sale when Natalia Goncharova’s Les Fleurs sold for GBP5.5 million/$10.9 million. Christie’s Russian Art Week in November realised GBP13.7 million/$20.9 million.”

Russian Art Fair to Be Held in London

Art dealer Peter London of West-Eleven gallery has planned a new Russian art fair to coincide with Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Macdougall’s biannual Russian art sales. London cited growing numbers of Russians living in the UK, as well as the enduring strength of the Russian art market as reasons for setting up the event. Most works will be in the £2,000 to £40,000 ($3,000 to $55,000) range, which London says has been less affected by the global recession. Soviet realism, contemporary painting, icons and decorative art ( Russian silver and Fabergé) will all be represented.

The fair will open with a charity fundraiser for The Children’s Fire and Burns trust and Friends of Russian Children. Russian Ambassodor Yuri Fedotov will be in attendance as well as the event’s sponsor, Prince Michael of Kent. The fair will be held from June 6 to 8 in the ballroom of the Jumeirah Carlton Tower hotel in Knightsbridge.

For more information, visit the event website at www.russianartfair.com

Update 4/27 – Lazare Gallery will be participating in the Russian Art Fair this June.  We’ll have more information about this event next month.