LONDON, November 22. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian and Soviet masterpieces will be auctioned at a Russian art event next week in London, auction houses Bonhams, Christie’s, MacDougall’s and Sotheby’s told Itar-Tass.

Bidders will choose from a diverse range of works by Russian and Soviet artists such as Aristarkh Lentulov, Ilya Kabakov, Ilya Mashkov, Leon Bakst, Leonid Chupyatov, Nicholas Roerich and Robert Falk. Along with paintings, the auction will offer pieces created in Russian jeweller Faberge’s workshops from the British Royal Family’s collection and two unique porcelain vases contemporary to Russian Emperor Nicholas I.

Notably, the two top lots presented by Sotheby’s — paintings by close associates Robert Falk and Pyotr Konchalovsky — have already been privately sold to a major Russian collector for a price that has beaten records for these artists’ pieces.

Head of Sotheby’s Russian Department Jo Vickery says interest in these paintings long before the auction indicates the currently high demand for true masterpieces of Russian art.