Russian Pictures , #L18112

• London, United Kingdom
• Sotheby's | Jun 04 2018 , Jun 05 2018

• Total lots estimates: £5,845,500 - £8,375,300
• Sale total: £6,870,125
• % Lots Sold: 62.93%

Among the highlights of the sale is Kazimir Malevich’s The Secret of Temptation, a rare gouache with impeccable provenance from the artist’s short Symbolist period. Two exceptional works from 1922 by Vasily Shukhaev and Alexander Yakovlev are also on offer, alongside Petr Smukrovich’s sumptuous Toilette and Konstantin Korovin’s House in Gurzuf with a Candlelit Interior, both from 1913. The 19th century section of the sale includes several works by Ivan Aivazovsky, among them Chapel by the Coast in a Moonlit Night from 1851, which has been in the same family for a century. The sale further includes a group of works by Pavel Tchelitchew from the collection of Seymour Stein, co-founder of the pioneering label Sire Record. A selection of Soviet paintings from the collection of Raymond and Susan Johnson including works by Vladimir Stozharov and the Tkachev brothers, as well as a section of unofficial Soviet art complete the sale.