Barberi table, Baryshnikov's painting lead Sotheby's Russian sale
- April 13, 2011 20:40
A two-part auction of Russian paintings and works of art at Sotheby's in New York this week brought $16.1 million, slightly above its high presale estimate of $15.8 million.
Buyers pursued the highest-quality lots, including a micro-mosaic table made by Italy’s Barberi workshop for the Russian court in the early 1830s which went for nearly $2 million (with commissions), well above a presale low estimate of $400,000.
More than thirty percent of lots failed to attract buyers, according to Bloomberg.
Among the stars was a Mikhail Baryshnikov-owned painting titled “View of St. Petersburg” by Petr Vereshchagin. The famed dancer's oil on canvas leaped to $746,500 from a presale estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. The buyer was a German private collector.
Bringing $2.9 million was the Vostok 3KA-2, a Soviet space capsule that orbited the Earth.
100x100_c.jpg "TEFAF Maastricht")
![Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.](/images/c/e2/2e/Jan20_Rape_of_Europa100x100_c.jpg "Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.")
