Russian Contemporary Art Fetches $8.3 Million in London

LONDON—Russian postwar and contemporary art was in high demand in London yesterday, as Sotheby's sold £4.3 million ($8.3 million) at auction. The auction's 153 lots had been estimated at £2.7 million to £3.9 million.

According to Bloomsberg, the presence of Russian collectors — comprising about two-thirds of buyers — was largely responsible for pushing prices to record highs. "Russian money is moving this market," commented Catherine MacDougall, buyer for the London dealer MacDougall Arts Ltd.

Oleg Vassiliev drew the top auction spot: his 1990 oil painting Before the Sunset sold for £468,000 on an estimate of £200–300,000. A work entitled Beauty (1988), by Semen Faibisovich, was the second most expensive lot, selling for £265,000 on a top estimate of £60,000. AES+F, a group from Moscow known for installations, photographs, and videos, was represented for the first time at auction. Their life-sized bronze sculpture of an armed girl, Warrior No. 4 (2006), brought in £120,000.

Record prices were set for 31 artists, Sotheby's said. Jo Vickery, senior director and head of Sotherby's Russian Art department, commented, "The outstanding results of today's sale far exceeded our expectations and show that Russian contemporary art is a sector of the art market strong growth."