Russian

"Russia's economy is clearly in recovery and oil prices are up," William MacDougall, co-director of MacDougall's, said in an interview. "The main dark cloud is the Greek debt crisis. While it raises problems for euro-denominated assets, it should be good for fine art, which is a safe haven."

Last year, the Russians were buying art just as fast as they could. Now, they're doing the same thing in reverse. Sotheby's and Christie's are bringing $31 million in Russian art to market, thanks to a global recession that has left the country's many billionaires financially crippled and in desperate need of liquidity.

Christie's is hoping to rake in $21.6 million from today's Russian art auction, which includes a porcelain dinner set owned by once-heir to the throne Grand Duke Paul. Sotheby's has approximately $9 million in Russian art, which it plans to send under the gavel on November 2.

If art and economic never intersected, we could just enjoy the aesthetic and be done with it. But, reality forces its way in – especially with the Russian economy 10 percent smaller than it was a year ago. And, the number of Russian billionaires has plummeted from 110 in 2008 to 35 now. Wealthy Russians and Ukrainians, according to William MacDougall, co-director of MacDougall's in London, are responsible for more than 90 percent of the market for Russian art.

So, expect the selling prices to suck, frankly. Even with some strong lots – Alexis de Tiesenhausen, director of Russian art for Christie's calls this auction unique in terms of "quality and historical significance" – the target market is selling rather than buying. The Christie's auction consists of 550 lots. The Sotheby's auction will have 122 – including paintins by Natalia Goncharova and Konstantin Korovin.

Estimates are much lower than they were in 2008, because of supply at auction, the drop in the art market and the absence of buyers in the target market.

"Russian" and "art" together used to mean "stratospheric prices paid." Not any more. Last week's Russian art auction results at Christie's and Sotheby''s showed the difference a year can make. Last year, the two houses brought in $64 million at the New York-based annual ritual. This year, the final take was only $27 million.

At the Christie's auction, the top-selling piece was Svetoslav Roerich's "Portrait of Nicholas Roerich in a Tibetan Robe" for $2.9 million – thus accounting for more than 10 percent of both houses' sales. It set a record for works by Roerich. The next best was by Nicholas Roerich himself. "The Greatest and Holiest of Tangla," a landscape of Tibetan snowcaps, brought in $1.4 million.

Efforts to repatriate Russian art, of which I first learned from Annika Larres at the Bukowskis auction house in Helsinki, seem to have slowed, due in large part to the loss of so many Russian billionaires over the past twelve months.

Overall, Christie's moved 69 percent of the 390 lots available for $13.2 million. The father/son Roerich team accounted for a third of that. The Sotheby's auction, last Wednesday, was good for $13.8 million, compared to $46.5 million in 2008.

New Year's Eve parties are often some of the biggest events of the year, so it's no surprise to hear that the ultra-rich go all out for them. A Russian billionaire wanted to ensure that his party had top-of-the-line entertainment and paid singer George Michael £1.5 million (approx $3 million) to perform a set. "George was back home in Britain by morning," a representative said, and with the honor of being the highest paid entertainer in Russian history. The runner-up for the title is Christina Aguilera, was paid £1 million ($2 million) "for performing three songs at a Russian wedding" in 2005.

We've heard of cars that have been reinforced with bulletproof glass and siding from time to time, but our experience with defensive measures for cars is limited, so we were a bit surprised to learn about the Combat Reconnaissance/Patrol Vehicle. After all, the vast majority of drivers have no need for a fully-armored, aquatic military vehicle - although if you're going to have one, you may as well make sure it's comfortable, too. This particular ex-Russian Military vehicle is loaded up with a huge sound system, GPS, TV and DVD player, in addition to what appears to be leather seating and carpeted floors. It also has some practical features such as sonar detection, a night vision system and a periscope.

You can see some more pictures of it after the jump.

[via Born Rich]