Sotheby's is presenting 37 lots at its evening auctions of important Russian paintings, including pictures by Boris Kustodiev, Ivan Aivazovsky, Konstantin Korovin, Vasily Vereshchagin and Nicholas Roerich. As usual for this auction house, there's a selection of the most popular and desirable Russian artists. The rarer items include Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin's 1921 painting "Bathing Boys," while the top lot is Konstantin Makovsky's historical canvas "Ivan Susanin" (1914), which is six meters long and is valued at £1.5– 2.5 million. From the second half of the 20th century are works by Georgy Nissky and Viktor Popkov.
Christie's has gathered a singular and striking selection of top lots, the most important of which is Yury Annenkov's portrait of Alexander Tikhonov (1922), which was sold at Christie's in 2007 for £2.26 million and became the artist's most expensive piece. Today the upper limit of the estimate is £4.5 million. Another sensational lot is Valentin Serov's portrait of Maria Tsetlina (1910), which has never before been on the market, although it is well-known among specialists (est. £1.5–2.5 million). In third place is Isaak Levitan's landscape "Summer Day" (est. £1–1.5 million).
Among the most expensive lots at Macdougall's are two paintings by Nicholas Roerich, portraits by Nikolai Feshin, Ilya Repin and Boris Grigoriev, a still life with a lilac by Pеtr Konchalovsky and a landscape by Ivan Shishkin. They add up to almost a little museum of classic Russian paintings. The top lot is a reclining nude by Mikhail Larionov (1902), estimated at £1.5–2 million. At Bonhams there's yet more by Aivazovsky (a picture for £700,000-900,000) and Roerich (an astonishing 11 works from a private American collection, with the estimate for the most important, a 1917 Karelian landscape, available upon request). Also notable are Alexander Yakovlev's "Loge de Théâtre à Pekin" (£500,000–700,000) and a still life by David Shterenberg (£400,00-600,000). It's worth bearing in mind that all four auctions include a rich selection of decorative and applied arts, icons and Faberge pieces.
