Public art sales in Romania increased by 124 percent in 2010 compared to 2009, to EUR 8.3 million. The annual average yield was of 40 percent, according to the second edition of Artmark Index, released at the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB). The Romanian art market index covers all public art sales in Romania in the last 16 years.

According to the index, the Romanian artists whose works were most traded in the last 16 years are Rudolf Schweitzer-Cumpana, Theodor Pallady, Leon Alexandru Biju, Nicolae Vermont, Nicolae Tonitza, Iosif Iser, Samuel Mutzner, Adam Balţatu, Gheorghe Petrascu and Octav Bancila. The best works sold on the Romanian market belong to Nicolae Grigorescu, who got the top four positions with “Little peasant girl resting” sold for EUR 270,000, “Pub in Rucar” for EUR 230,000, “At the edge of the forest” for EUR 200,000 and “Shepherdess” sold for EUR 175,000.

The Romanian art market mainly consists of public sales through art auction, with seven local art auction houses active on the market. Some of the auction houses operating on the Romanian market are Artmark, Alis, Goldart, Araart, Monavissa (Bucharest), Calusari (Oradea) and Quadro (Cluj-Napoca).

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com