Barberi table, Baryshnikov's painting lead Sotheby's Russian sale

13 April 2011

PETR PETROVICH VERESHCHAGIN, 1836-1886, VIEW OF ST. PETERSBURG, FROM THE COLLECTION OF MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV.

(Sotheby's)

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.

Read more at Bloomberg

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