Sotheby's, Christie's Expect $58 Million From Russian Art Sales
April 21 (Bloomberg) – Christie's International and Sotheby's Holdings Inc. will next week test Russia's art market in New York auctions that they estimate may fetch as much as $58 million.
Sotheby's hopes to set a record on April 26 for the biggest sale of Russian paintings and works of art ever, earning as much as $46 million. Christie's expects its April 24 sale of paintings and works of art to fetch $12 million.
''I am excited by the amount of property that's fresh to the market from private collections,'' said Sonya Bekkerman, vice president of Russian paintings at Sotheby's in New York. ''Media attention has engendered greater awareness, especially among American private collectors, who may not have previously paid close attention to the Russian art on their walls or even in storage.''
Sotheby's said that nearly 70 percent of its artworks are from U.S. collections, though it expects predominantly Russian buyers. After seven years of economic growth, a new class of wealthy Russians is starting to build art collections. While most dealers say they expect the market to continue expanding, some have doubts.
''The market is overheated,'' said Natalia Kournikova, owner of Kournikova Gallery in Moscow. ''It's at its highest point. There's just not that many more works of high quality to buy.''
Sales Doubled
Sotheby's is the global Russian art-market leader with sales of $102 million in 2005, more than double its 2004 figure, and nine times as much as the 2001 figure of $9 million. Christie's global Russian sales in 2005 were $40.7 million, up 77 percent from the previous year.
''There is huge demand on the market today, but it's very serious and very selective,'' said the head of Christie's Russian department, Alexis de Tiesenhausen.
The April 24 sale will be Christie's first-ever combined sale of Russian paintings and artworks in the U.S. Until now, Christie's has focused solely on objets d'art in its New York Russian auctions.
''Sotheby's has invested a lot in its Russian department, and it offers an enormous choice of excellent art,'' said Andrei Ruzhnikov, director of Aurora Fine Art Investments, the Russian art investment fund majority-owned by the oil-and-mining billionaire, Viktor Vekselberg. ''This Sotheby's sale is much superior to Christie's.''
Aurora, incorporated in April 2005 with $100 million, is considered the top buyer on the Russian market. Ruzhnikov said he will be looking for purchases at the Sotheby's sale and that he can ''easily name 100 lots that appeal to me.''
New Discovery
Sotheby's top lots are Boris Kustodiev's ''Portrait of the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna the Elder,'' billed in the catalog as a ''newly discovered masterpiece,'' with a top estimate of $1 million; Robert Falk's ''Portrait of a Man in a Red Necktie'' with a top estimate of $1.2 million; and Konstantin Makovsky's ''Toilet of Venus'' at a top estimate of $1.1 million.
Sotheby's also offers an 1890s Russian gilded silver-and- enamel complete tea-and-coffee set by the Moscow craftsman Pavel Ovchinnikov, with a top estimate of $800,000. Two 1900 Faberge gold mounted glass beakers have a top estimate of $600,000.
Christie's top lots include, ''Sleeping Nude'' by Zinaida Serebriakova with an upper estimate of $400,000 and Ivan Aivazovsky's ''Moonlight'' at $1.5 million and ''An Italian Brig in the Harbor at Sunset'' with a top estimate $600,000.
''The Serebriakova is an amazing erotic nude,'' said de Tiesenhausen. ''I think the estimate is low and we will see it go at a higher price.''
Mucha Painting
Christie's main highlight is the sale of the collection of U.S. Ambassador Charles R. Crane, who served in Russia in 1917, as well as throughout the Middle East. The 42 pieces include paintings by Boris Grigoriev, Vasily Vereshchagin and Georgian painter Grigorii Gabashvili.
The Crane collection's central piece is a small 1920 version of Czech artist Alphonse Mucha's ''Abolition of Serfdom in Russia,'' which has a top estimate of $2.5 million. The full-scale 1914 original, now in Moravsky Krumlov in the Czech Republic, is part of Mucha's 20-painting series called ''The Slavic Epic.''
''The Crane collection is small, but an extremely selective collection,'' said de Tiesenhausen. ''It has excellent provenance, and in some cases we even have the contracts between the collector and the artist.''
While the Russian market breaks records with each sale, the question of when it will peak continues to occupy dealers and buyers.
''Russia is now a stable country with a strong economy,'' said Ruzhnikov. ''I don't see any reason for worry at this point, and I think the art market will only go higher.''
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