(Source: http://www.newsru.com/cinema)

“The auction of the works of Russian art finished yesterday, yielding 21.4 million pounds. This is the highest score in this category since June 2008 and the third largest score in the history of Sotheby's. 11 new records with the most important works  were established at the evening auction with the active participation of private collectors from CIS countries, eight lots were sold for amounts exceeding one million pounds - more than at any other “Russian auction” before” – the message of the auction house said.

“If we sum up the result of sales of  the works of Russian arts and crafts, the works of Fabergé and icons, the overall result of the week of “Russian Auction” will amount to 23.8 million pounds – it is the largest result of “Russian Auctions” held in London this week” - the text said. The top-lot of the auction was Kazimir Malevich’s painting “Head of a Peasant” sold for 2 million pounds.

The preliminary price of the work was 600-800 thousand pounds. The proceeds made up a record amount for a work by Malevich on paper. “A Head of a Peasant” is a sketch for the monumental work of the artist “Peasant Funeral” exhibited in Berlin in 1927 among 70 other works. Malevich was forced to leave all these paintings abroad, returning to the Soviet Union.

“The important works by Malevich appear at auctions about once in ten years. It is also important that the big painting “Peasant Funeral” was either lost or destroyed, its fate is unknown. As for “Head of a Peasant”, we can say that it reflects the tradition of Russian icon painting” - the head of Sotheby's Russian Art Department Frances Asquith earlier told to RIA “Novosti”.

The value of Malevich’s painting was equal to that of the work of Aristarkh Lentulov “Children with Umbrellas” which was last sold 40 years ago. The estimate of the picture was 600-800 thousand - as much as the work of Malevich. The painting “Dough Kneaders” by Mikhail Larionov sold for 1.87 million pounds closes the top three. The estimate of the work was 800 thousand – 1.2 million pounds. The work was last exhibited in the UK in 1961. It is mentioned the list of the most important works by the artist compiled in 1913. The proceeds for it made up a record price for the artist. The private collection from Germany including the works of Malevich and Lentulov brought 11.6 million pounds to the auction house.