Russian nonconformist artwork sells for a staggering half-million dollars online through LiveAuctioneers.com

Oct. 24, 2007

Price sets new record for LiveAuctioneers.com and artist Vasily Sitnikov

NEW YORK—The market for Russian art continues to astound, with new records regularly established at auctions worldwide, and Gene Shapiro’s inaugural art auction with Internet bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com was no exception. When the dust settled on Oct. 20, a LiveAuctioneers.com buyer had prevailed in securing a nonconformist Russian painting for the staggering price of $496,900 against an estimate of $40,000-$60,000.

The 29½ inch by 55 1/8 inch oil-on-canvas fantasy artwork was painted by Vasily Yakovlevich Sitnikov (Russian, 1915-1987), and depicts a snowflake-covered town bustling with people. Artist-signed and dated USSR 1975, the painting not only set a new record for Sitnikov, but also established the highest price ever paid for a work of fine art on LiveAuctioneers.com.

“Confidence in bidding online through LiveAuctioneers.com is at an all-time high,” said Julian Ellison, founder and CEO of LiveAuctioneers.com. “Collectors are happy to use the Internet to transact at this level, now. Those critics who said fine art would never sell online have been proved wrong time and time again on LiveAuctioneers.com. I believe the sale of the Sitnikov painting is only the beginning of a trend that will continue to grow stronger as the season progresses.”

Since the end of summer, numerous other auction records have been set by purchasers of art who prefer to bid online through LiveAuctioneers.com. With more than 300 auction catalogs posted on the site for October, and November on track to exceed this number, Internet art buyers are poised to exceed auctioneers’ expectations.