Lots of money, lots of opportunities.
For art dealers of all kinds, Moscow has become an important centre again. The proof: Last May, Sotheby’s opened a new office in the Russian capital. “With this new office, Russian cultural life will become richer. Sotheby’s will put international works of art into Russian hands,” Mikhaïl Kamensky, Sotheby’s manager in Russia, remarks with pleasure.
But the oldest international auction house, which held its first sale in 1744, is above all going to Moscow to do business.
“Major growth is expected in Russia,” Mikhaïl Kamensky confirms. The boom particularly concerns Russian art, which sales are skyrocketing. In 2006, they reached the record sum of 153 million dollars for Sotheby’s, compared with only 7 million in 2000.
“Russian art is still one of the most exciting and dynamic markets of the international art market,” Christie’s confirms. For the other famous auction house, the sales of Russian art already represent 69 million dollars for the first half of 2007, compared with 70,5 million for the whole year 2006. “Sales in Russia took off in the 1990’s,” Mikhaïl Kamensky recalls. “But the real boom took place in the last ten years. We expect this trend in sales to continue.” In this context, the opening of a new office in Moscow should enable Sotheby’s to be well placed in this flourishing market.
“Our clients and the Russian collectors want to see the art works for real, meet the people and talk to them, and not just discuss via email or see art works on the Internet,” Mikhaïl Kamensky comments. “This new office gives us an important competitive advantage. It will enable us to go and meet the people.” For its opening last May, the auction house organised an important presentation of works in Moscow. Among others, it included canvasses by Claude Monet and Andy Warhol, which are valued at 100 million dollars and which were afterwards sold in London. “There’s an international market for our Russian clients with works from the whole world, and there’s a market inside Russia for old and contemporary Russian art,” Mikhaïl Kamensky explains.
Next November, another presentation – this time of Russian art works – will take place in the Russian capital. But, above all, it is the important auction sale of the Rostropovich – Vishnevskaya collection of Russian works, the 18 and 19 September in London, which arouses the most interest. “For our clients, this sale is really very important,” Mikhaïl Kamensky asserts. The price of the auctioned works is estimated between 26 and 40 million dollars, with, among others, an oil painting by Boris Dmitrievich Grigoriev’s (1886-1939), which could reach 4 million dollars.
