Crises Old and New

[Кирилл Сызранский]

crisis of the old and new
//Cultural results-2008 //
Antiques: prices not only grow

Antiques (cynically define the contents of this section as an "Selling Art") in this season made everyone jittery. 2008-th will go down in history as the year an antique peak - in the first half of the year continued to rise, the second came the fall. How deep it will be able to show only the time; Sotheby `s and Christie` s, as the flagships of the antique market and the organization who were forced to give comments remain cautiously optimistic. The results of recent "Russian auction" demonstrated that the numbers fell back only to the level of 2006, which is not a catastrophe. Exact figures for annual turnover and schedules will be published by major auction houses not earlier than one month and a half, so is still comforted by transfer of records and major transactions, which in the final year was a lot.

The most noisy deals in the field of art is to recognize the three, and all three - with a Russian connection. Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich bought the record prices for paintings of non-Russian artists Francis Bacon and Lucien Freud painting by the Russian artist Kazimir Malevich to the record price buy someone, but not Russian, and Russian company Mercury bought a controlling stake in a non-Russian auction house Phillips de Pury, which sells Russian art. The amount of the latest deal were not disclosed, presumably it is $ 30 million, as compared with the record prices for paintings quite a bit. The importance of the events here in the fact, when Russia's company that sells products of famous and expensive brands of the world, includes in its structure the auction house. This seems to mean that the art trade (occupation bandits and dirty - representation, nurture us for decades) is fully rehabilitated and in the minds of businessmen, investors, and in the minds of people who buy luxury goods.

It remains to enumerate the most important records of the antique. The most expensive work of art, bought at public auction in 2008 - is "Triptych" 1976 hand of Francis Bacon, purchased at auction Sotheby `s Roman Abramovich for $ 86.3 million The most expensive piece of the artist in good health -" Sleeping Social Supervisor "Lucien Freud, bought by the same collector for $ 33.6 million

Claude Monet's Water lilies "went at auction Christie` s for $ 80.5 million - twice the amounts set forth above. And finally, "Supremacist composition of Kazimir Malevich sold at auction Sotheby` s for $ 60 million - more than three times the previous record. Malevich Suprematism with such provenance (from the Amsterdam museum Stedelijk) was worthy of much more - here I feel like blurted out something like: "lily" a lot, and Malevich one. But the current crisis ruined everything - but as it would be nice if the place of Pablo Picasso's "Boy with a Pipe" which is already four years headed the table of records, won a Russian artist.

http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1092116

[antip]

Сообщение от Cyril Syzransky

Triptych "1976 Brush Francis Bacon, purchased at auction Sotheby` s Roman Abramovich for $ 86.3 million

One consolation in that the amount of $ 86.3 million and ours with you, Cyril share there.
No works by Francis Bacon's life all of us, including RA would be unbearable.