``The Russian market is now repeating what happens on mature 
Western art markets,'' said Catherine MacDougalls, co-director 
of MacDougall, a London auction house founded in 2004 that 
specializes in Russian art. ``Modern masterpieces are selling 
exceptionally well, while traditional 19th-century art is 
less and less exciting.'' 

-------------------------------------
Sotheby's London Sells $44.8 Million as Russian Auctions Start 
By John Varoli

June 13 (Bloomberg) -- Sotheby's sold 22.7 million pounds 
($44.8 million) of Russian art in London yesterday as 
buyers snapped up early 20th-century paintings, Faberge 
works and post- World War II art at the start of three days of auctions. 

The proceeds were in the middle of estimates of between 19 million 
pounds and 27 million pounds, the world's No. 2 auction house said. 
The Sotheby's sale will be followed by Christie's International, 
he world's biggest auction house, selling as much as 11 million 
pounds' worth of art today, and MacDougall Arts Ltd., which 
xpects to sell 6 million pounds on June 15. 

Russia, the world's second-biggest oil exporter, is in its 
ninth year of economic growth, fueled in part by the sale 
of commodities. After decades of deprivation during the 
Soviet Union, wealthy Russians are spending freely on luxury 
and status goods. 

``The Russian market is now repeating what happens on mature 
Western art markets,'' said Catherine MacDougalls, co-director 
of MacDougall, a London auction house founded in 2004 that 
specializes in Russian art. ``Modern masterpieces are selling 
exceptionally well, while traditional 19th-century art is 
less and less exciting.'' 

Twelve artist records were set at auction, and seven works 
sold for more than $1 million yesterday. There were about 
200 registered bidders at the sale, and 65 percent of the 
548 lots were sold. Russian art is now the sixth-largest 
department by sales at Sotheby's, up from 26th in 2003. 
Top Lots 
The majority of sellers were American and European, while 
about 80 percent of buyers were from Russia and the republics 
of the former Soviet Union or emigres living abroad, Sotheby's 
said. 

The six top-selling lots were paintings from the first 
quarter of the 20th century. This is a shift from the 
past decade when most of the top Russian lots at auction 
in London were 19th- century classical masters, such as 
seascape painter Ivan Aivazovsky, and landscape painter 
Ivan Shishkin. 

Modernist painter Mikhail Larionov (1881-1964), and 
Konstantin Korovin (1861-1932), an impressionist, were 
yesterday's stars. The top lot was Larionov's ``Still 
Life With Jugs and Icon,'' circa 1910, which sold to a 
Russian in the room for 2.26 million pounds on a top 
estimate of 1.5 million pounds. The sale was a record 
for the artist at auction. 

Larionov's ``Three Female Bathers With a Rose,'' circa 
1904, was the fourth top lot, and went to a Russian 
collector for 736,000 pounds on a top estimate of 
700,000 pounds. 

Korovin had three works among the top 10 best-selling 
lots, with his ``Still Life With Roses and Fruits,'' 
1921, finishing as the day's third-top lot. It went 
to a Russian collector for 804,000 pounds, more than 
five times the top estimate. 
Quality Counts 

Boris Kustodiev's ``Picnic,'' 1919, sold for 1.25 
million pounds to a Russian in the room on a top estimate 
of 800,000 pounds. 

The sale's results, with about a third of the lots unsold, 
had dealers and collectors saying that while the market 
remains strong, it has reached a plateau and will no 
longer see rapid growth. 

``The market is still strong, but the auction houses 
are trying to peddle any old piece of Russian art 
without regard to quality,'' said Andrei Ruzhnikov, 
director of Aurora Fine Art Investments, the Russian 
art investment fund owned by the oil- and-mining 
billionaire, Viktor Vekselberg. ``That's why many lots 
went unsold.'' 

Aurora bought some artworks at the sale, said Ruzhnikov, 
but he would not elaborate. Aurora was founded in 
April 2005 and has since bought more than 1,000 items 
with a total value of ``way over $200 million,'' said 
Ruzhnikov. While Aurora eventually plans to sell these 
works, there are no concrete plans at the moment, he said.
 
Sotheby's Russian art sales have risen more than 
20-fold since 2001, totaling $153.5 million in 2006, 
which was 46 percent over 2005's total. 


John Varoli in London at jvaroli@gmail.com 
Last Updated: June 13, 2007 05:36 EDT