Russian Auctions in London 4-6 June 2018 Statistical Summary
BY SIMON HEWITT (INTERNATIONAL EDITOR)
AFTER A HEALTHY rebound last November, Russian auction sales jagged down 41% this week to total £23.9m. A lack of frontline consignments – rather than the absence of several heavyweight Moscow buyers due to visa difficulties – was the principal cause.
TOTAL SALES
| LOTS OFFERED | LOTS SOLD | % SOLD | TOTAL | SHARE | |
| Sotheby’s | 367 | 267 | 73% | £9.12m | 38.2% |
| Christie’s | 312 | 218 | 70% | £6.90m | 28.9% |
| MacDougall’s | 316 | 186 | 59% | £6.70m | 28.0% |
| Bonhams | 122 | 78 | 64% | £1.18m | 4.9% |
| TOTALS | 1117 | 749 | 67% | £23.90m |
With the exception of Bonhams, who almost doubled their meagre takings of last Winter, sales were down across the board: by £5.1m at Sotheby’s, £6.4m at Christie’s and £3.2m at MacDougall’s. Sotheby’s share of the market remained stable at 38%, but Christie’s share fell 6%. After a 6% rise last November, MacDougall’s were up a further 2% as they came within £200,000 of matching Christie’s total. The number of lots on offer was down 11% but the overall buy-in rate remained stable at 33%. The percentage of unsold lots plummeted at Bonhams but festered at MacDougall’s.
TOP TEN
| ARTIST | TITLE | PRICE | ESTIMATE | FIRM |
| Yakovlev | Dancer in Spanish Costume | £1,112,750 | £400-600,000 | Christie’s |
| Yakovlev | Harlequin (1922) | £730,000 | £150-200,000 | Sotheby’s |
| Shukhayev | Russian Landscape (1922) | £418,000 | £250-350,000 | Sotheby’s |
| Tchelitchew | Excelsior (1934) | £418,000 | £250-350,000 | Sotheby’s |
| Savelev Bros | Imperial Triptych Icon (1894) | £406,000 | £80-120,000 | Sotheby’s |
| Nesterov | A Lonely Woman (1922) | £370,000 | £200-300,000 | Sotheby’s |
| Grigoriev | La Mère Agathe (1924) | £369,000 | £250-350,000 | Christie’s |
| Soutine | Madeleine Castaing (c.1937) | £359,000 | £300-500,000 | MacDougall’s |
| Deneika | Woman in Yellow Dress (1955) | £345,000 | £300-500,000 | MacDougall’s |
| Kuznetsov | Fountain (1904) | £333,000 | £250-500,000 | MacDougall’s |
There were just two prices over £600,000, compared to ten last November. Sotheby’s landed five of the Top Ten prices, including the only work of art – but their Yakovlev was trumped by Christie’s. There was again no major Avant-Garde offering nor, with the failure of MacDougall’s £1m-rated Shishkin, did a single 19th century painting make the Top Ten. Bonhams’ top price was an up-on-estimate £237,000 for a 1930s Fechin Still Life with Daisies. Contemporary highlight was the 1963 Tselkov that Igor Tsukanov snaffled for £187,500 at Christie’s.
CONCLUSION
The market failed to capitalize on the upsurge discernible last November after three lean years. Bidding was lively for many lots in the ‘middle-market’ (£200,000-500,000); the chief problem was an absence of major consignments. Whether this reflected a political climate affected by the Skripal crisis and Russia’s presidential election is hard to say; it may be that vendors increasingly prefer to sell pre-Christmas rather than midsummer. Sotheby’s comfortably retained their pre-eminence but MacDougall’s, selling in new premises on The Mall, mounted a stern challenge to Christie’s – and even outsold them when it came to pictures. Bonhams, meanwhile, arrested their recent decline.
A FULL REPORT ON RUSSIAN ART WEEK BY SIMON HEWITT WILL BE ONLINE NEXT WEEK
