NEW YORK, April 15 (RIA Novosti) - Sotheby`s expects over 500 works of Russian art to fetch $40 million during a two-day auction in New York starting Tuesday, the head of Russian painting at the auction house said on Tuesday.

The highlights are expected to include two paintings by Ivan Aivazovsky, which decorated the walls of the White House in the 1960s, with an estimated value of $2-3 million, as well as a rare Faberge icon in a silver frame encrusted with jewels ($100,000-150,000) and an Imperial porcelain centerpiece ($3 million) once owned by the Dutch government.

"All indicators are pointing to strong sales," Sonya Bekkerman said.

Although Sotherby's is being very cautious in its pre-sale estimates, it is expecting new records to be set. Last year Russian art sales reached a massive $190.9 million compared to $6.03 million in 2000.

The auction house will also sell paintings by other famous Russian artists, including Russian landscape painters, Arkhip Kuindzhi, Ivan Shishkin, Andrei Bogolyubov and Vasili Polenov.

During the second day on Wednesday, contemporary Russian art will go under hammer.