Russian Sales Over at Sotheby's

One of the largest over the past years Russian sales are over at Sotheby's in London
Some exhibits from private collection of the famous Russian singer Fyodor Shalyapin attracted the strongest interests of the auction participants. A copy of Mikhail Nesterov's picture "Vision of the Youth Bartholomew" (the original is exhibited in Moscow's Tretyakov Art Gallery) was sold for J450,000. A copy of a picture by Boris Kustodiyev (the original is kept in the Tula Art Museum) was sold for J750,000, a record price of the day. 

It was a surprise that Natalya Goncharova's picture "Boys Bathing", that had been put up for sale as a part of Shalyapin's collection, was sold  for J410,000.

Phillip Malyavin's picture "The Naked in Hat of Flowers" was sold for J190,000, which is much higher than its market price. Art experts say that the portrait, that is considered to be Malyavin's best words, had been published in the tenth issue of the Zhar-ptitsa magazine in 1923. That confirmed the authenticity of the work.

Peter Falk's "Portrait of an Indian Boy" was sold for the highest evaluative price of J60,000. A portrait of artist Konstantin Korovin’s wife in an apple-tree garden was sold very quickly for a very nice price. Korovin is traditionally considered the founder of the Russian impressionism. Two works by Ivan Aivazovsky were traditionally a successful deal.

Works by Konstantin Makovsky sold well, as traditionally they do. This time his works were sold at prices that were 3-4 times higher than the evaluative cost. Pictures of Boris Grigoryev are still in demand among connoisseurs of the Russian art; this time sales of his pictures were no particular sensation at Sotheby's. 

Experienced art critics say that tastes of Russian collectors are getting wider. This is proved by successful sale of Peter Konchalovsky's picture "St.Apostles' Bridge in Venice" at Sotheby's. Until recently, dealers manager to sell successfully only his landscape and village works.   

The fine picture by Klavdy Lebedev "The Princess and A Female Jester" was sold for J45,000, although the evaluative cost was J5-7,000. experts say, the picture belongs to works which are still undervalued.
The picture "The Poor In Front of the Chirch", that is said to be painted by Ivan Yermenev, broke the record regarding the difference between the evaluative and sale prices. Art experts say that the organizers of the auction should have included the work into the Sotheby's Catalogue and have declared its evaluative price higher than J1-2,000. Dealers from Russia bought the picture for J22,000.

Out of the 231 exhibits originally put up for sale, four exhibits were withdrawn from the auction even before the trades began. About 40 exhibits were not sold because of a low demand.

RIAN