After the exhibition in Ulyanovsk artist Safronov were missing paintings "Battle cat retired", "the Lightness of being, or the Naked truth", "father's Portrait in Italian costume of the Doge" and "Freedom, or Bird life in the cage"

• Nikas SAFRONOV dreams of Italy
  Oil on canvas. 100,3 × 69,2
  Sotheby"s. 07.06.2011
  Auction estimate: $16-25 thousand
  Price: $104 000. Auction record for the artist
  Source: artinvestment.ru

Unpleasant news from Izvestia: Nikas Safronov stole four paintings.

After the exhibition of the artist "favorites", which took place from 12 September to 18 October 2015 in the Ulyanovsk Museum Lenin memorial, Safronov were missing paintings "Battle cat retired", "the Lightness of being, or the Naked truth", "father's Portrait in Italian costume of the Doge" and "Freedom, or the Bird lives in a cage." The situation is unpleasant. Criminal case is brought.

the Publication cites kidnapped and evaluation with reference to the organizer of the exhibition and art-директора artist Natalia Khristenko: 8 000 000.

Figure intriguing. Four pictures for 8 000 000 — is obtained by an average on $ 28,000.

Can it be?

let's look into the database of auction results. Formal Safronov auction record set at Sotheby's in 2011. Meter oil "dreams of Italy" repeatedly exceeded the estimate at $16 000-25 000 and was sold for $106 000. But this is the only outstanding case. Since then, the work of Nikas Safronov four times exhibited at auctions in Russia and abroad, but the sale was only one — "Portrait of Ringo Starr" for $6 850 on the American auction in December 2015.

the domestic auction market in Russia demand for such money not. So, in 2014, the painting was exhibited twice Safronov AI on the Auction but were not sold because reserve prices were higher. Maximum rates for both works reached only 60 000 rubles, which can be considered the upper boundary of real consumer demand in the public market.