Estonian Artists' Association auction raises nearly €786,000 on first day

The first day of a charity auction held by the Estonian Artists' Association, on 9 October, raised €786,400. The auction is taking place in Tallinn, Estonia's capital, and online. The organisers hope the proceeds will cover roughly €700,000 in property damage the association suffered because of a fraud scheme.

Record price for Elken's painting

The most expensive work of the first day was Jaan Elken's painting "Driver's Cab", sold for €205,000. It became the priciest work by a living Estonian artist ever sold at auction. The piece drew 126 bids. Art market expert Tiina Määrmann said the work had entered the history of the Estonian art market.

In second place was Jüri Arrak's painting "Discussion of Nature Conservation Issues", which sold for €135,000.

Prints, photographs and drawings

All 56 of the graphic works, photographs and drawings on offer were sold, for a combined €225,400. The most expensive in this group was Arrak's 1985 piece "Tiger", which went for €23,500 against a starting price of €1,600. The work attracting the most bids in the category, 49, was Evald Okas's "Women with a Black Cat".

Scale of the auction and what comes next

On the first day 81 artworks were sold, with about 1,400 bids placed, and more than 10,000 unique users watched the online broadcast. Association president Maarin Ektermann thanked participants and stressed that every purchase directly supports the artists and the association.

The auction is run jointly with the company Eesti Kunstioksjonid. In total, 162 works are on offer, drawn from the association's collection and recently donated by artists. Authors will receive part of the proceeds: 5% of the final sale price for collection works and 15% for those donated recently.

The second day takes place on Saturday, 10 October, at 15:00 at the ARS art complex in Tallinn and online at eestikunstioksjonid.ee. A further 80 works will be offered.