Results: Sotheby's London Important Russian Sale

 At the end of November Sotheby's London held its Important Russian Art sale, and some are wondering if the Russian art sector is starting to see some signs of cooling.  The sale offered 30 lots with only 20 selling for a sell through rate of 66.7%.  The sale totaled $8.66 million including buyers premium and sold at a respectable 74.6% by value.  Nine of the top ten sales were noted as going to private collectors with one anonymous buyer, with 8 being from the Commonwealth of Independent Sates (CIS).  This sale is another example of private buyers dominating the auction market.  These episodes of private collectors are happening more and more at the top end of the auction market, and is actually becoming the norm.

According the Financial Times, the slow sale at Sotheby's as well as at Christie's are impacted by more sophisticated buyers from Russia who make up 95% of the market for Russian art.  These more sophisticated Russian buyers are looking for quality and fresh to market pieces, which are getting more difficult to find.  Perhaps, or perhaps the Russian sector is getting soft.

The Financial Times reported on the sale

But elsewhere the sell-through rates were not so perky. Only 66.7 per cent of the works on offer in Sotheby’s Important Russian Art sale found buyers, for a total of £5.6m. Christie’s made £13m in its Russian art sale on November 28, with 65 per cent sold by lot, while MacDougall’s, which specialises in the Russian market, made £8.9m, with almost 60 per cent bought in.

The Russian market is quite different from any other, says Jo Vickery, head of Sotheby’s Russian department: “It is dominated by Russians, who account for 95 per cent of the buyers. This market was growing fast, now it has stabilised. When it started 12 years ago, buyers were mainly newcomers, but now they are more experienced, and they are looking for fresh-to-market pieces; things that have been around are far more difficult to sell today.” In her Important Russian Art sale this month, eight of the top lots went to buyers from the Commonwealth of Independent States.

To read the FT article, click HERE.