RUSSIA: Sotheby's Russian contemporary art exhibit in Moscow hopes to cash in on growing Russian appetite for art.

At the end of January, Sotheby's, one of the world's top auction houses, made its first trip to Moscow with a full art exhibit in tow. The visit, however, was not about charity or a cultural exchange. It was a preview to Sotheby's February 15 auction in London of Russian contemporary art, and the British auction house is trying to entice rich Russians to buy. At the end of January, Sotheby's, one of the world's top auction houses, made its first trip to Moscow with a full art exhibit in tow. The visit, however, was not about charity or a cultural exchange. The event was a preview to Sotheby's February 15 auction in London of Russian contemporary art worth a total of between 3 million and 4 million U.S. dollars. Sotheby's brought the two dozen Russian contemporary art works to Moscow in the hopes of whetting the appetites of Russian buyers. Each painting has an estimate, which is the price range within which the auction house believes the art work will sell at auction. The estimates of most of the works range from 20,000 to 120,000 (USD). However, the top art work, "Revolution. Perestroik'' by Erik Bulatov, has an estimate of 158,000 to 237,000. Most of the art works were made in the mid 1980s, the period known as Perestroika and Glasnost, when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev tried to ends decades of Soviet repression and introduce a small amount of freedom. The result was a flourishing of the arts not seen since the 1920s. Artists who had previously been forced to create in secret and under the constant threat of the KGB, the Soviet secret police, could now work freely. At that time, this type of art was highly appreciated by Western collectors, while Russians had little interest in it. Now things have changed as a new generation of young wealthy Russians has arisen in the past decade. "Sotheby's is always looking at new markets, and there's no doubt that the Russian market has grown hugely since 2001,'' said Lord Mark Poltimore, head of 19th and 20th Century European Art at Sotheby's in London. "To give you an example, in 2001 we were selling about 9 million of Russian art. And we are now selling over 150 million in 2006. So it is a huge, huge expansion. So that leads us... once you've looked at Faberge and the avant-garde, we are now looking at contemporary art. Because we see that the young [Russians] want to collect contemporary art.'' The Russian art market has been booming for the past four years, but most of the works sold are from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Up until this year, there has been little interest in post-World War II Russian art. Things are changing. "We have seen growing interest in Russian contemporary art over the last year,'' said Joanna Vickery, head of Russian art at Sotheby's in London. "It's been one of the last areas of the art market, of the Russian art market, to show growth. And so we have decided to place these particular works in their own auction together for the very first time to respond to that growing demand.'' With the Russian economy in its seventh straight year or growth, and Moscow home to the largest number of billionaires on the planet after New York City, some rich Russians are anxious to acquire items that exude prestige, power and sophistication. Collecting art has become fashionable in Russia, and as is usual, Russians tend to throw themselves into their new hobbies with all their heart and soul. On this background, the Sotheby's sale looks set to post strong results.

ITN Source | February 10, 2007

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