Russian Harvest

Russian Harvest

Boris Anisfeld Leon Bakst Mikhail Larionov Russian Prince Gives Art to Pushkin Indian Art Soars, Russian Art Disappoints at Christie's Artist Dossier: Natalia Goncharova Lots of Records, Buy-Ins at Sotheby’s Russian Sales Out of the Past

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The exclusive that follows is a web extra tied to Out of the Past, an article originally published in the March 2008 issue of Art+Auction.

NEW YORK—Russia-born, New York-based collector Boris Stavrovski has a passion for the work of the “Diaghilev School” of artists, who were commissioned by Serge Diaghilev, legendary director of the Ballets Russes from 1909 to 1929, to create costumes and sets for his performances. While Stavrovski—whose connoisseurship is the subject of our March Obsessions column—is most impressed by the life stories of these figures, it’s hard to ignore their market value, which has grown exponentially of late. Here, we chart the highest auction prices since 2000 for five of the most celebrated figures whose work can be found in Stavrovski’s collection, and tally how many of their pieces have appeared at auction during this period. As our analysis reveals, supply and demand have skyrocketed in recent years. 

"Russian Harvest" was comissioned for the March 2008 web release of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's March 2008 Table of Contents.