View of St. Petersburg - Petr Petrovich Vereshchagin (Source: Sotheby's via Washington Post)

Christie’s and Sotheby’s Spring auctions of Russian art exceeded everyone’s expectations. Sotheby’s sold $16.1 million, above even their high estimate for the sale, and their most profitable sale since 2008. Christie’s sold 5 million. Top lots included a view of St. Petersburg by Petr Petrovich Vereshchagin sold by Mikhail Baryshnikov to benefit his art center in New York, a soviet space capsule, and a painting by Henryk Siemiradzki which doubled its high estimate and sold for $2.1 million, a record for the artist.

The sales demonstrate that the market for Russian art is strong and growing.

For more details see coverage by the Epoch Times and Bloomberg.

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