About 60 percent of the lots in a London auction of Russian art failed to sell last night as collectors said prices and estimates were too high.

MacDougall Arts Ltd.’s sale of Russian 19th-century and 20th-century paintings raised 5 million pounds ($7.68 million), below the presale low estimate of 12 million pounds. The London- based auction house said its first-ever evening sale ended with “just under 40 percent” of the 62 lots sold. The top two lots accounted for about 40 percent of the total value sold.

“The poor results today were due to very high estimates and the fact that the market is waiting,” said Alexander Tabalov, a collector from Kiev. “Some potential buyers are waiting for prices to go down.”

Sotheby’s, Christie’s International and Bonhams are also holding Russian-art auctions in London this week, with dealers saying the billionaire-led boom is over. The country’s art- auction prices have risen for nine years, fuelled by an economy that benefited from charging buyers records for oil and metals.

MacDougall’s most expensive lot was a group of 122 original ink drawings by early 20th century painter Konstantin Somov. Some feature graphic sexual scenes. The drawings sold for 1.17 million pounds, below their low estimate of 1.5 million pounds. The seller was an American collector, and the buyer was a Moscow collector, said MacDougall’s.

Tabalov said that while he was interested in Mikhail Klodt’s “View of Kiev from the Muraviev Gardens” (1871), he felt the low estimate of 800,000 pounds was twice what it should have been. That painting didn’t sell.

Symbolist Swan

Tabalov bought Russian symbolist Nikolai Kalmakov’s “Leda and the Swan,” (1917) for 216,000 pounds. It had a top estimate of 180,000 pounds.

The auction’s second most expensive lot was Isaak Levitan’s “The Illumination of the Moscow Kremlin dedicated to the Coronation of Nicolai II” (1896). It sold from an Israeli collection for 1.09 million pounds on a low estimate of 900,000 pounds.

One top lot that didn’t sell was Boris Anisfeld’s “The Golden Tribute” (1908). It had a low estimate of 750,000 pounds.

MacDougall’s, which was founded in 2004, primarily sells Russian paintings, and holds two auctions a year. Today it has an auction of Russian postwar art.

Also yesterday, Sotheby’s, the Russian art market leader in terms of annual sales, had a day sale of Russian paintings that made 5.89 million pounds on an estimate of 8.3 million pounds. About 43 percent of the 288 lots sold.

‘The Joker’

The top lot was Mikhail Klodt’s “The Joker” (1897), which sold from a U.S. collection for 313,000 pounds on a top estimate of 180,000 pounds.

The second most expensive lot was Ivan Shishkin‘s “The Clearing,” (1878), which sold for 289,000 pounds on a top estimate of 200,000 pounds.

Sotheby’s current total for Russian art week is 21,995,413 pounds. Today the company has an auction of Faberge, porcelain, silver, icons, and military medals of honor.

Christie’s today has its sale of Russian paintings, led by Natalia Goncharova‘s “Still Life With Watermelons,” with an estimate of 1.5 million pounds to 2 million pounds.