Since the office opened in May 2007 it has become a valuable resource for both our Russia-based and international clients.
Sotheby's history in Russia began as early as 1988 with a ground breaking sale of Avant-Garde and Soviet Art that realised more than £2 million (USD $3,074,600). Following a fifteen-year period of unprecedented growth in the Russian Art market, Sotheby's held its first auction of Russian Art at Sotheby's London in 2002. Since then Sotheby’s have held many exciting and successful sales such as The Forbes sale of Imperial Fabergé eggs, The Rostropovich sale in 2007, the Romanov Heirlooms in 2009 and more recently the Bar Gera sale of Russian contemporary art. Countless world records have been broken in the last 10 years, including for Malevich, Falk and, in 2016, for Rodchenko and Chashnik.
Over the past ten years, over twenty international exhibitions have been held by Sotheby’s in Moscow. We have exhibited masterpieces from the Old Masters, Jewellery, Impressionist, Contemporary, Russian, and African art departments to the Moscow public. Sotheby’s Moscow also carries out extensive academic research and collaborates with museums, private museums and cultural institutions in Russia and all over the world.
