The main lot of the Christie's Russian Art auction — Fruit Still Life by Ilya Mashkov (1881-1944) — has been sold for $ 7.2 million, which is a record amount for the artist. 

      An anonymous buyer participating in the auction over phone purchased the painting at the Russian Art auction on June 3. The total amount includes the buyer’s award, i.e. remuneration paid to the auction.

      The previous record for Mashkov's paintings was set in 2005, when his other still life was sold for $ 3.6 million at the Sotheby’s auction.

      The Christie's press release points out that the Fruit Still Life is one of the most significant paragons of the Russian neoprimitivism. The canvass was painted in 1910 and participated in the first exhibition of the Jack of Diamonds art group. In April, 2013 the Fruit Still Life, which had not been displayed to general public for about a hundred years, was exhibited for a few days in Moscow.

Sources: http://lenta.ru