Sotheby’s Russian art sale totals $13.6 mn
By IANSFriday, April 23, 2010
New York, April 23 (IANS/RIA Novosti) A two-day auction of Russian art at Sotheby’s in New York brought in $13,573,000, meeting the expected $10-15 million despite poor attendance due to the ongoing Icelandic volcano-related flight disruptions.
Among the auction main features was a group of some 100 paintings by Pavel Tchelitchew from the collection of the late American actress Ruth Ford (1911-2009), who was both his muse and patron.
Tchelitchew’s portrait of Ford was sold for $986,500, well above the expected $150,000-$200,000.
Another highlight was an incredibly rare collection of 86 works by the Ukrainian Society of Independent Artists from the collection of Yakov Pereman, which went for $1,986,000.
Other significant lots featured at the auction included works by Boris Grigoriev, Natalia Goncharova and Yuri Pimenov.
From contemporary Russian artists, Sotheby’s auctioned Zurab Tsereteli’s painting Gabrielle, which sold for $86,500, just making the $80,000-120,000 range.
The auction’s section of decorative art, sold Wednesday, featured an incredible collection of 40 works by Faberge unseen on the market for several decades.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
