LONDON, November 25. /TASS/. The Manicure Lady (Portrait of Mademoiselle Girmond) painting by Russian artist Nicolai Fechin (1881-1955) was sold at a Christie’s auction in London for 2.3 million pounds ($3 million), the Christie’s auction house told TASS at the beginning of the traditional autumn Russian Art Week sale.

The auction house underlined that the painting is a quintessence of the artist’s talent and technique and added that it was painted in 1917 when Russia’s history changed dramatically.

The painting was auctioned by the painter’s family from its personal collection and was estimated to sell for between 2-3 million pounds ($2.6-3.8 million).

Shishkin and Aivazovsky for sale too

The Christie’s auction on Monday also saw renowned Russian landscape painter Ivan Shishkin’s Sukhostoi (Snag) painting selling for more than 1 million pounds ($1.33 million) with estimates placing it between 700,000 and 900,000 pounds ($900,000-1.2 million). Shishkin (1832-1898) completed the painting in 1897.

Sunset over Ischia (1873) by Russian marine artist Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900) was purchased for 491,000 pounds ($635,000). Another masterpiece by Aivazovsky — Pushkin Looking out to Ayu-Dag, Crimea — was sold for 162,500 pounds ($210,000) with estimates of 80,000-120,000 pounds ($105,000-155,000).

In the afternoon, pieces of decorative art will go under the hammer. 

The Russian Art Week is a major international art fair traditionally held in London twice a year — in May-June and November-December. Apart from Christie’s, other auction houses like Sotheby's, MacDougall's and Bonhams take part in it. The Russian Art Week in June 2019 raised more than $45 million, making one of the most successful auctions in many years.