With so many Russians living in London, one estimate puts the number as high as 400,000, dealer Peter London thinks there’s room for a semi-annual Russian art fair that coincides with the Russian auctions, so says This Is London.

Mr London said of Russian art: “It is the biggest explosion in terms of price and desirability and collectors. Art fairs in general were suffering dramatically, but specialist events - such as Frieze for contemporary art - were bucking the trend, he said. “Contemporary art is pretty well covered but there was nothing for Russian art apart from the regular auctions. We also want it to be a social occasion because there are not a huge number of social events for the Russians in London.”

But, wait, didn’t the Russians just go broke? What sense is there in a Russian art fair when the Russian money machine has sand in the gears? London has an explanation for that too:

“These people have been affected badly by what’s happening in the Moscow Stock Exchange - about 75 per cent has been wiped off the value - but many still have a few million in the bank. The top end art has bottomed out and is not finding the stratospheric prices it was, but pieces from £10,000 to £60,000 are still selling well.”

Finally, the site gives us a little context on the growth:

The Russian market has grown rapidly in recent years. The total global sales eight years ago were £7.6million. That figure rose to £85million in 2005 and £128million in 2006. Last year Sotheby’s and Christie’s alone sold art worth £180million.

Art Dealer Sets Up Fair to Draw Wealthy Russians (This Is London)

Colin Gleadell’s report on the Russian art sales in London is a must read for anyone serious about following the overall art market. Since the beginning of the recent troubles, Gleadell has been a level-headed source of reason about prices and market action. He reports the sale totals but looks at the seller’s gains and the price level as an indicator instead of the price-to-estimate ratio.

As added encouragement to read the whole story, we won’t quote from it extensively here. But let’s convey the main points, like the Impressionist and Modern categories, the price level for Russian art has returned to 2006. Given the meteoric rise of this category and the devastation Russian asset owners have suffered in the collapse of the commodities bubble, that’s a sign of a strong commitment to buying art.

(The best bits after the jump.)

Indeed, Gleadell points out that gallerist Natalia Kournikova bought the three top lots, one at Sotheby’s, one at Christie’s and one at Russian art specialty house MacDougall’s:

London dealer Ivan Samarine, who paid a triple estimate £433,250 for a powerful painting of a young peasant woman by Abram Archipov, said that the best quality works sold well. However, some estimates had been unrealistically high, and results were unpredictable because “a lot of potential buyers were waiting to see where prices would settle, and not bidding”. And, with six auctioneers offering more than 2,600 works in a week, the market would have been over-stretched even in good times, he added.

By the end, London’s Russian art sales had brought £52.8million, just over half the amount realised a year ago, and back to the more realistic levels of 2006.

Russia Still Showing Signs of Life (Telegraph)

Spooked by the Russian Sales in London

The Telegraph runs a brief story in the aftermath of London’s disappointing Russian sales. The newspaper turns this quote from Hiscox’s Charles Dupplin into the whole story:

“No matter how rich you are, probably your confidence has dropped. In 1991, prices fell about 50pc for Impressionist art. There is no reason to believe that history might not repeat itself.”

(More tales of the insurance trade after the jump.) Read the rest of this entry »

The Financial Times and Reuters Try to Explain the Meaning of the Auctions of Russian Art in London

Reuters sees the sales as evidence of the end of the Russian buying spree:

Gone are the days of 2005 to 2007, when salerooms buzzed with anticipation as Russian buyers fought for precious pieces of their heritage. This week both Sotheby’s and Christie’s failed to make their low pre-sale estimates, an increasingly common phenomenon as the global financial crisis catches up with the art market. [ . . . ]

Underlining how a weaker art market throws up opportunities for bargains, lot number 333 on Wednesday went under the hammer for 13 pounds including buyer’s premium. The ink-on-paper image of three horses speeding through the countryside dragging a sled had been expected by Christie’s to fetch up to 3,000 pounds.

The Financial Times, however, sees some silver lining in the volume of sales considering Russia’s severe economic straits:

We are relieved it wasn’t a meltdown,” said Mark Poltimore, the chairman of Sotheby’s Russia. “In fact, if you take into consideration the economy and particularly the situation in Russia, we were thrilled that some parts of the sale did so well.” Lord Poltimore said there had been fears that the market would “die” following events of the past couple of months but many top-quality pieces had sold well.

Russians No Longer Rush to Buying Art (Reuters)

Sotheby’s Russians Sales Signal Duller Art Market (Financial Times)

Bloomberg reports midway through the week of Russian sales in London:

MacDougall Arts Ltd.’s sale of Russian 19th-century and 20th-century paintings raised 5 million pounds ($7.68 million), below the presale low estimate of 12 million pounds. The London- based auction house said its first-ever evening sale ended with “just under 40 percent” of the 62 lots sold. The top two lots accounted for about 40 percent of the total value sold. Read the rest of this entry »

The Russian Art Sales Feel the Bite of the Bear Markets in Commodities

Bloomberg reports on the Russian sales in London:

Sotheby’s took 16.1 million pounds for two sales, against Christie’s International’s 3 million pounds and Bonham’s 1.7 million pounds. Three of the four auctions missed the companies’ own presale low estimates. [ . . . ]

Some collectors and dealers blame the weak results on unrealistically high prices auction houses set amid a global financial crisis that triggered a 65 percent drop in the Russian stock market in the last six months.

“We need to get past this otherwise the market risks stagnating,” said Samarine.

[ . . . ]

“We’re at an awkward moment where the market doesn’t want to buy at the old prices, and sellers don’t want to accept the new reality,” said London-based art dealer Ivan Samarine.

(More results after the jump.)

Bonhams sold one-third of the 244 lots offered for about 1.7 million pounds on a presale low estimate of 5.8 million pounds. None of its top lots sold.

Sotheby’s sold 59 percent of the 55 lots of 19th-century and 20th-century Russian paintings, netting 14.1 million pounds against a presale low estimate of 17.5 million pounds.

The Sotheby’s sale of Imperial works of art bucked this trend with 94% of the lots sold, 78% those went for above the high estimates.

Princess Collection Shines at London Russia-Art Sale (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg takes a close look at London’s Russian art week that lies just over the horizon. Of course, they pitch the story as the first test of the Russian market since the collapse of the commodity economy.

There are four major sales–Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Bonham’s–plus one house that only sells Russian art:

MacDougall Arts Ltd. has the most ambitious lineup. Its total estimate for the week is 21 million pounds to 33 million pounds. That’s more than the estimates at Christie’s International and Sotheby’s, which is the Russian art-market leader in total annual sales.

MacDougall’s head makes a case for why Russians would spend money on art. He’s not alone. Others have pointed out that Russians are acutely accustomed to expropriation and loss. That puts a greater emphasis on objects of value, especially works of art.

“Many Russians still have large amounts of money they need to invest,” said William MacDougall, director of the auction house. “Would they choose stocks or bonds? Even bank accounts now look risky. Paintings do not go into default.”

Others make a brave case that Russian collectors are doing better than their counterparts in the west:

“Russian collectors have not been so hard hit by the financial crisis as collectors in the West,” the Russian National Museum, a private gallery headed by Moscow collector, Alexander Ivanov, said in a statement.

All will be revealed next week but pay close attention to the fate of Goncharova (above, left) at Christie’s and the Imperial works of art at Sotheby’s. Like the Chinese, Russian buyers love anything with an connection to their Imperial past. Also, just for fun, here’s Mikhail Larionov’s Reclining Nude, one of the highlights at Sotheby’s.

Russian Art has been no secret but next week’s sales in London may just be the event that brings the market into focus

Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Bonham’s are holding sales of Russian art and Works of Art next week in London. Bloomberg predicts a defining sale:

“Next week’s auctions will see strong results for top lots,” said Bekkerman, owner of New York-based ABA Gallery. “There’s a perception that Russian art is too high priced, but keep an eye on Goncharova, Larionov, Yakovlev, and Aivazovsky.” Read the rest of this entry »