LONDON, MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2011 --- Tonight, Sotheby’s Evening Sale of Important Russian Paintings brought £14,095,400 ($23,170,019), comfortably within pre-sale expectations (estimate: £12.4- 18.2/$20.5-29.9 million). The auction achieved sell-through rates of 65% by lot and 76% by value and set five new artist records.

Headlining this evening’s auction and was Vasily Vasilievich Vereschagin's oil on canvas The Taj Mahal, Evening, which is one of the most important works to have resulted from Vereschagin's trip to India from 1874 to 1876. This museum quality painting witnessed intense competition for several minutes from no fewer than four clients in the saleroom and on the telephone banks. Setting a new record for the artist at auction, the work finally sold to a round of applause to an anonymous buyer on the telephone for £2,281,250 ($3,749,919), far surpassing its pre-sale estimate of £250,000-450,000.

Commenting ommenting on the results of tonight’s sale, Jo Vickery, Senior Director and Head of the Russian Art department said: “Overall we are extremely pleased with the results of this evening’s auction, which brought £14 million, comfortably within pre-sale expectations. We are also thrilled to have set a new record for Vereschagin at auction with the £2.2 million price achieved for his The Taj Mahal, Evening, in addition to a further four artist records at auction for Bogaevsky, Kamenev, Maliavin and Sala. It has been a huge privilege to bring to the market such a number of highly desirable and quality works by this renowned Russian Master, Vereschagin, and the international competition for these pieces tonight is enduring testament to this artist’s output and the quality of the works on offer, which saw huge interest pre-sale.”

Combined, the group of works by renowned Russian master Vasily Vasilievich Vereschagin of Russian, Indian and Balkan scenes brought the well above-expectations combined total of £3.7 / $5.7 million (pre-sale estimate for the group: £1.2-1.9/$1.9-3.1 million). The second highest price of the group was paid for Vereschagin’s oil on canvas On Campaign, which realised 481,250 ($791,079) against an estimate of £400,000-600,000 and the artist’s oil on canvas The Chief Mosque in Futtehpore Sikri, far surpassed presale expectations of £80,000-120,000, bringing £373,250 ($613,548).

The second highest price achieved in this evening’s auction was for Ilya Efimovich Repin’s (1844-1930) oil on canvas Portrait of the Artist’s Wife, Vera Repin, dated 1878, which sold for £1,161,250 ($1,908,863), against the pre-sale estimate of £1,000,000-1,500,000. Widely considered the finest portrait of the artist’s career, this particular work remained in his wife Vera’s collection, hanging in her flat on Karpovka until she died, at which point it was sold by her daughter.

Another top-selling lot of tonight’s sale was Alexander Evgenievich Yakolev’s (1887-1938) oil on canvas Opera in Peking, dated 1918, which sold for £825,250 ($1,356,546) (estimate: £800,000-1,200,000). Exceptional in its daring use of perspective, Yakovlev’s powerful composition is believed to depict a scene from a 16th century play by the poet Tang, The Peony Pavilion, which subsequently became the template for the story of a perfect love.

New Artist Records:

Lot 6

Vasily Vasilievich Vereschagin

The Taj Mahal, Evening

Estimate: £250,000-450,000

Sold for £2,281,250 / $3,749,919

Previous record: $3,624,000 (£1,814,890)

Lot 22

Konstantin Fedorovich Bogaevsky

Fantasy Landscape

Estimate: £200,000-300,000

Sold for £505,250 / £830,530

Previous record: €84,804 ($132,072)

Lot 44

Valerian Konstantinovich Kamenev

The Harvest

Estimate: £180,000-250,000

Sold for £217,250 / $357,116

Previous record: £21,510 ($39,833)

Lot 47

Filipp Andreevich Maliavin

Russian Beauty

Estimate: £120,000-180,000

Sold for £ 481,250 / $791,079

Previous record: $602,500 (£380,655)

Lot 48

Paolo Sala

The Anichkov Bridge on Nevsky Prospekt at Dusk

Estimate: £120,000-150,000

Sold for £ 145,250 / $238,762

Previous record: €83,125 ($78,169)