The smaller canvases by classic Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900) are in ever greater demand. The price has skyrocketed to 3,500 pounds a centimetre-dealers' method in which the whole price is divided by the length of the bigger picture side. A dozen seascapes were auctioned off yesterday at a lump 1.5 million pounds.
The greatest attention at the auction belonged to "Peace on Earth" by Mikhail Nesterov (1862-1942), exquisite and spiritual Symbolist painter, and "Through the Nets: Bathers" by Mikhail Larionov (1881-1964), one of the founding fathers of Russian avant-garde art. The Nesterov beat the day's record to bring in 500,000 pounds, against a starting 400,000. It went off at once to thwart expectations of a breathtaking race. The Larionov went for 190,000 pounds.
"Flowers against a Pink Background" by avant-garde artist Peter Konchalovsky (1876-1956), which experts highlighted as the most interesting canvas in offer, exceeded its accessed value 2.5-fold to 290,000 pounds.
The New Bond Street event mainly gathered Russian dealers and Moscow connoisseurs who were buying for wealthy clients. The Sotheby's keeps information about its buyers secret, on house tradition.
The company has scheduled its nearest Russian auction for December next. Most probably, Christie's will offer a similar event at about the same time.
A maiden Sotheby's Moscow auction was in 1988.
