Value of Artmark transactions up 20pct in 2020; Grigorescu, Luchian best-selling

The value of transactions increased by approximately 20 per cent in 2020 compared to 2019, with works by Nicolae Grigorescu, Stefan Luchian and Adrian Ghenie being among the best-selling, according to Artmark. In a top 10 of the best-selling lots of art or collectables on the domestic market (at an auction), painter Nicolae Grigorescu ranks first with his "Peasant Woman Purring" - 220,000 euros, Stefan Luchian - "Vase with Carnations"- 125,000 euros; Nicolae Tonitza - "Irina" - 120,000 euros; a Richard Mille RM030 watch, made of titanium and rose gold - 112,500 euros and Adrian Ghenie's painting - "Untitled" ("Memory") - 110,000 euros. These are followed by Victor Brauner's painting "The Poet Geo Bogza shows his Head to the Landscape with Drills" - 100,000 euros; "A wonderful world" Christmas tree, design object made by the volunteers of Save the Children Romania - 100,000 euros; Nicolae Grigorescu - "Peasant Woman with Blue Beads" - 95,000 euros; Stefan Luchian - "Interior with Carnations" - 95,000 euros and Nicolae Grigorescu's "Wild roses" - 85,000 euros. Also in a top 5 of the lots that recorded the highest increase in a 2020 auction (most auction steps) were Antoine de Saint-Exupery - "The Little Prince" (9 lithographs by the author) - auctioned in 43 bidding steps, for 13 minutes and 8 seconds; a chess table that belonged to Nicolae Ceausescu - auctioned in 42 bidding steps, for 16 minutes and 25 seconds. Next were the works of Adrian Ghenie: "The Lidless Eye" - auctioned in 34 bidding steps, for 21 minutes and 23 seconds; "Navy" - auctioned in 33 bidding steps, for 7 minutes and 53 seconds and "Untitled" ("Memory") - auctioned in 27 bidding steps, for 10 minutes and 42 seconds. A top 5 first transactions with Romanian art on the international market finds, once again, Adrian Ghenie (born Baia Mare, 1977) among the best "sold" Romanian artists, along with Victor Brauner (born Piatra Neamt, 1903), Rubin Reuven (born Galati, 1893) and Arthur Segal (born Iasi, 1875). Thus, the first four places were taken by Adrian Ghenie - "The Lidless Eye" - 5,039,990 euros (Sotheby's Honk Kong Auction, October 6), "The Arrival" - 4,149,810 euros (Sotheby's London Auction, February 11), " On the Road to Tarascon 2"- 3,195,500 euros (Christie's Hong Kong auction, July 10) and "Piefight Interior"- 2,603,813 euros (Sotheby's London auction, October 21), followed, in order, by Rubin Reuven - "Seder Scene"- 205,651 euros (Sotheby's New York auction, December 14); Arthur Segal - "Composition" - 200,244 euros (London's Chiristie Auction, February 6); Victor Brauner - "L'attente" - 200,000 euros (Sotheby's Milan auction, November 27) and "Regard du Diamant" - 160,000 euros (Sotheby's Paris auction, October 21). The Artmark Live platform used by A10 by Artmark auctioned more than 10,000 online accounts in October. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Popescu, editor: Mihai Simionescu, EN - author: Cristina Zaharia)