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Russian Color at Christie's

February 10, 2011 by Marion Maneker

The Master, Judd Tully, was paying close attention at Christie’s in London last night where Russians and Chinese were active buyers:
  • a Chinese buyer bidding via telephone nabbed Giorgio Morandi‘s austere and fresh-to-market 1953 still life “Natura Morta” for $2.2 million (£1.4 million) against an estimate of £700,000-1 million.
  • Christie’s Zürich-based Russian art specialist Sandra Nedvetskaia [nabbed] Pierre Bonnard‘s large-scale and color-fused “Terrasse a Vernon” (1923) for a record and top-lot $11,578,056 (£7,209,250) on a £3-4 million estimate. It had been in the same private collection since 1935.
  • Nedvetskaia’s bidder (paddle #841) contributed mightily to the evening, also buying Kees van Dongen‘s cloyingly theatrical “L’Actrice Lili Damita” (circa 1926) for a whopping $4.9 million (£3.1 million) on a £1.5-2 million estimate. The mystery buyer also chased other major works, underbidding the large and über-decorative Natalia Goncharova “Les Arbres en Fleurs (Pommiers en Fleurs)” from 1912

Scott Reyburn got a quote that only reinforced the idea:

“It’s shopping,” Guy Jennings, partner in the London- based dealership Theobald Jennings, said in an interview. “These are colorful works that will look good in a house in the Cote d’Azur. This market is driven by Western-based Russians and new European money. The rise in commodity prices has made a difference to them.”

Dalí’s Surreal Day at the Beach Caught a Record at Christie’s Tidy $136 Million London Sale (ArtInfo.com)

Russian Buyers’ Art-Spending Spree Boosts $137 Million Christie’s Auction (Bloomberg)

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Filed Under: Auction Results, Featured Tagged With: Christie's, Impressionist, London, Modern

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