Bloomberg has some quotes on Sotheby’s Russian sale this morning:

• “For the current economic climate, the results are good,” said Natalia Kolodzei, executive director of the U.S.-based Kolodzei Art Foundation, which promotes Russian art.“If we saw such results a year and a half ago, it would have been a catastrophe,” she said.

• “To me, the economic crisis is a gift,” said Georgy Khatsenkov, a Monaco-based collector. “I bought a couple of paintings at lower prices than I had expected.” Khatsenkov placed a winning $110,000 bid for Pavel Tchelitchev’s melancholy male nude from 1926 and another one, at $37,500, for Dmitri Krasnopevtsev’s canvas depicting an old stove.

• “There are no masterpieces,” said Alexandre Gertsman, a private New York art dealer, who said that unlike previous seasons he had decided against consigning works. “It’s not the right time to sell strong works,” he said. “I don’t want to give them away at low prices and I don’t want to risk not selling them.”

Billionaires Disappear From Russian Art Auction at Sotheby’s (Bloomberg)