We’re feeling a little guilty about having overlooked last month’s Russian art week in London. The lack of action—and our own distraction with other non-art matters—made it hard to generate enthusiasm. Luckily, Georgina Adam is indefatigable. She sums up the sales in the Financial Times:
Last month’s sales of Russian art also showed some cooling. Sotheby’s May 28 session made £10m, with an anaemic sell-through rate of 65.8 per cent; last year the equivalent sale totalled more than £14m. Christie’s on the same day made £8.3m – down from the £10m it earned in 2011. Specialist auctioneer MacDougall’s had an even tougher time, only selling 44 per cent of its Important Russian Art sale, garnering £9.3m. But William MacDougall was upbeat. “It was not our strongest week but, none the less, it was reasonable; works on paper did well and we achieved three world records,” he said.
