The ‘Capital’ magazine in cooperation with the Artmark Auction House have ranked the best selling Romanian artists at public auctions in the last 10 years, called Top 100 best selling Romanian painters. The release was organised at the Cesianu-Racovita Palace – the headquarters of Artmark – on Monday night.Number one in Top 100 most valuable Romanian painters is Nicolae Tonitza, whose ‘Nud in iatac’/’Nude in the thalamus’ (photo) was sold at the Artmark Winter Auction in December 2011 for EUR 290,000. The second most valuable painter is Nicolae Grigorescu, two of whose paintings were sold at two Artmark auctions for impressive sums: ‘Tarancuta cu fuior pe cale’/’Peasant girl with tow’, sold at the 2011 Summer Auction for EUR 250,000 and ‘Tarancuta odihnindu-se’/’Peasant woman resting’ sold at the Art Nouveau and Romanticism Auction for EUR 270,000. Number three is Camil Ressu, whose painting ‘Aise’ sold at the Artmark Summer Auction for EUR 160,000. Number four in the standing is Stefan Luchian, whose paintings have also set a few price records at auctions. Number five is Ion Andreescu. Two of his works were sold for over EUR 100,000 each – ‘Femei in parc’/’Ladies in the park’(The Beginning of Spring Artmark Auction in 2011 – EUR 130,000) and ‘Ulcica cu flori de camp’/’Pot with wild flowers’ (Old Masters of Romanian Painting Artmark Auction in 2011, EUR 135,000). The next ranked painters are Marcel Iancu – number six, on Tuculescu – number seven, Theodor Pallady – number eight, Victor Brauner – number nine and Constantin Artachino – number 10.According to Mediafax, the ‘Capital’ ranking was made based on the entries to the Romanian Art Market Index, the edition updated at the end of last August. The authors considered all transactions at public auctions in Romania since 1995 at all auction houses that have operated during that period, including art galleries that have organised auctions only occasionally. The first edition of the Top 100 most valuable Romanian painters also includes four related rankings: the Top 20 most valuable lady painters, Top 25 most valuable contemporary artists, Top 20 artists with careers abroad (led by Constantin Brancusi, whose ‘Madame L.R.’ was sold at a Christie’s auction in Paris in February 2009 for EUR 29 M). The forth related ranking is Top 25 Romanian collectors where the first two places are taken by the Royal House of Romania. The occupant of the first place, King Carol I, had an impressive collection of Renaissance and Baroque art which, after the nationalisation by the communist regime, became the foundation for the European art collection of the National Art Museum of Romania. King Mihai I is number two in Top 25 Romanian collectors, his passion for automobilism and his impressive vehicle collection being notorious.
