Russian art auctions in London

London’s traditional Russian auction week kicked off with Sotheby's, Christie's, Bonhams and MacDougall's putting up works by Alexandra Ekster, Nicholas Roerich, Zinaida Serebryakova and Boris Anisfeld, as well as an applied art collection including pieces with unique history.

This year, the leading auctions emphasize early 20th-century art. Most of the pieces are from this period. Analysts believe that art collectors are currently taking special interest in the early 20th-century artists. Photo: Abstract Composition With Palette by Natalia Goncharova.

A Box at a Peking Theater by Alexander Yakovlev, painted in 1918 during the artist’s trip to China, Mongolia and Japan, is one of the top lots at Christie’s. It is one of the few Yakovlev’s paintings devoted to Chinese theater to have survived to this day. The work is estimated at 150,000-200,000 pounds ($250,000-$330,000).

Sotheby's emphasized Alexandra Ekster’s avant-garde art. The auction house’s most expensive lot is her Venice (1925), valued at 900,000 to 1.2 million pounds ($1.5 million-$2 million). The painting is one of her first works painted in Paris after she fled the Soviet revolution.

Sotheby's will also offer art lovers the chance to acquire rare pieces by Boris Anisfeld, Boris Grigoryev, Zinaida Serebryakova and others.

There will also be auctions of works of applied art, which are valued more for their long and unique history.

Sotheby's has included in its session a unique collection of Romanovs’ Imperial heirlooms discovered in Sweden last summer. It contains many items by Faberge. The pieces once belonged to Grand Duke Vladimir, brother of Emperor Alexander III, and his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna.

The collection was entrusted to the Swedish diplomatic mission in 1918, shortly before the disruption of diplomatic relations between Sweden and Soviet Russia, and nothing was known about it for more than 90 years. These two pillow cases (in the back) were used as sacks in which the collection was brought to the Swedish diplomats.

However, Sotheby's plans to sell some classic pieces as well. Art lovers will be offered works by Ivan Shishkin, Alexei Pisemsky and other traditionally popular and expensive Russian painters.

London analysts are confident that the upcoming auctions will be a success, as they include new art trends and lots with interesting provenance.