STOCKHOLMS AUKTIONSVERK BEHIND ONLY LONDON AND NEW YORK WHEN IT COMES TO RUSSIAN ART

The figures speak for themselves: following a hectic season, Stockholms Auktionsverk has become the biggest seller of Russian art after London and New York – thanks largely to Ivan Samarine, the expert in this particular field.

The Russian auction was the high-point of this autumn’s auction season. With profits of SEK 30 million – including four six-figure bids – Stockholms Auktionsverk was the real winner this season. Despite the fact that the Stockholms Auktionsverk Russian auction was the last in a long line of events centred on Russian art this autumn, the market showed no signs of saturation, even though the purchasing pattern can best be described as “selective”. This is fully in line with current trends on the international market and is, in itself, an indication of a more mature market.

In a fully packed auction room, largely populated by Russian speaking bidders, the auction was held in English. Lot number 3, a portrait of the famous Count Alexander Stroganoff with links to Sweden – in that it was painted by Roslin during his time in St Petersburg – sold for SEK 480,000 (estimated at SEK 200–250,000). A portrait of Czar Alexander I by Henri Francois Riesener fetched SEK 890,000 (lot no. 11, estimated at SEK 450–500,000). A marvellous landscape of St. Petersburg from around 1840 and attributed to Louis Jules Arnout attracted a good deal of attention during the viewing. The hammer finally fell at SEK 1,050,000 (lot no. 21, estimated at SEK 900,000–1,000,000).

The renowned Aivazovsky collection sold very well. Ivan Aivazovsky is one of the best-loved Russian artists, and despite the fact that he was remarkably prolific, it is almost unheard of to have as many as 12 of his works on sale at one and the same auction. The collection sold for a total price of SEK 5.9 million. Two of the works fetched SEK 1.7 million and SEK 1.275 million (lot nos. 46 and 39, estimated at SEK 1.6–2 million and SEK 1–1.2 million).

Another interesting area was a collection of works by Leonid Pasternak, father of the Nobel Prize winner. A watercolour portrait of his son Boris went for a world record SEK 520,000 (lot no. 113, estimated at SEK 400–450,000).

One of the most noted works at the viewing fetched the highest price at the auction – Philip Maliavin’s “Winter Troika”, painted in Nice in 1933. This work sold for an impressive SEK 2,050,000 (lot no. 125, estimated at SEK 1.65–1.8 million).

Applied art from Russia was also in great demand. A roll-front desk sold for SEK 250,000 (lot no. 212, estimated at SEK 150–175,000), while a conductor’s baton from1899 (lot no. 231, estimated at SEK 15–18,000) became the object of a pitched battle between musical giants and finally fetched a staggering SEK 125,000. Lot 233 – plate from St. Petersburg with a military motif – proved to be another “rocket”: bids rose rapidly from the asking price of SEK 50,000 and finally reached SEK 240,000.

FACTS:
Total sales: SEK 30 million
Total buy-back: 37%

For additional information, please contact Anna Hamilton, PR Manager on +46 8 453 67 84 or Marc Maurie, Curator, on +46 8 453 67 56. To order pictures, please contact the marketing department on +46 8 453 67 82.