LONDON, November 23. /TASS correspondent Ilya Dmitryachev/. Large auction houses have a positive outlook for Russian art auctions starting in London on November 27, representatives of Sotheby's and Christie's told a TASS correspondent on Friday.
"The market has certainly made a recovery after 2014 when, I think, it did hit a low point," director and head of sales at Sotheby's Russian Pictures Reto Barmettler said adding that now they have a positive outlook as they are many new and established collectors.
"We had a very good year last year. We had total sales in excess of ·20 mln, which is one of the better results we had for quite some years now. There are encouraging results for more traditional works, so the 19th century - 20th century did actially well," he noted.
"There is a lot of diverse material both in terms of style and period, but as well as pricing the least expensive work is estimated at £500 pounds and the most expensive work at £2 mln," Barmettler said.
"Many collectors do have actually quite ecclectic taste as well, and they are interested in the whole spectrum of Russian art. Even those who buy at a very high level are sometimes interested to buy something that is less expensive but will fit their collections well," he added.
Among Sotheby's top lots are paintings "Blind Man's Bluff" by Konstantin Makovsky (1839-1915) estimated at £2-3 mln; "Georgian Woman Wearing a Lechaki" by Niko Pirosmani (1862-1918) estimated at £500,000-700,000; and portrait "Leo Tolstoy Barefoot" by Ilya Repin (1844-1930) estimated at £400,000-600,000.
International Head of Russian Department at Christie's Alexis de Tiesenhausen said that interest in Russian art remains high but noted that it is difficult to provide any concrete forecasts for the upcoming auction. "Tastes don't change, interest in Russian art remains, but you can never know ahead of the auction how the marker will react," de Tiesenhausen said. "For instance, the situation in June was not very good, but the results turned out to be not that bad at all."
"I wouldn't say the market is weak. Rather, it is 'capricious'. People decided whether they will buy or not at the very last moment, while 10 years ago many people came and bought. There are now fewer collectioners. They continue collecting but very carefully," he added.
The expert also noted one peculiarity of the Russian art market - the works sold at an auction rarely return on sale. "They do not return to the market, unlike modern art or impessionists, whose works become available again in 10-15 years. I think it is the new generation that is passionate about collecting," de Tiesehausen said.
Among Christie's top lots are paintings "Venice at Sunset" by Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900) estimated at £400,000-600,000; "Self-Portrait in a Gray Smock" and "Portrait of Vera Shukhaeva, the Artist's Wife" by Vasilii Shukhaev (1887-1973) estimated at £300,000-500,000; and stage design for "Daphnis and Chloe" ballet Acts I and III by Leon Bakst (£180,000-220,000).