Boris Grigoriev Piotr Petrovich Konchalovsky Konstantin Alekseevich Korovin Russian Art Passes First Test of the Season at Sotheby’s Russian Roulette A Fund's New Dawn Discovered Grigoriev Paintings to Be Sold at Sotheby's Some Dazzle, Some Dozing at London Russian Sales

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Looks like it's still an expanding market: the Russian art auctioned at Sotheby's London yesterday, estimated at $14.8 million, brought in $22.6 million and established new records for Konstantin Korovin, Pyotr Konchalovsky and Vasili Polenev.

While many smaller pictures did not find new homes, and an expensive portrait by Boris Grigoriev failed to compel bidders, others sold for many times their estimated value.

Korovin's 1916 Gurzuf in Summer earned ten times its top estimate. Konchalovksy's 1913 Portrait of Yuri Petrovich Yuriev went for close to three times its valuation. Both works were sold to telephone bidders amidst a round of applause from onlookers.

"The market continues to show strength," said Ivan Samarin, an art adviser who bid on Konchalovsky's work for a client. "But it's becoming more selective."

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Bloomberg: "Russian Art Sets Records at $22.6 Million Sotheby's London Sale