More Russian Records

The second day of Christie's London auction of Russian Pictures and Russian Works of Art produced more records (i.e. more silly prices). Konstantin Andreevich Somov's Pastorale Russe (1922) was a nice little earner at £2,696,000 ($5,251,808), making it the most expensive Russian painting ever sold in a Russian auction. Coxsoft Art must admit it didn't know the Commies were still painting naive pastoral idylls in 1922, a genre to which Western art gave the raspberry more than a century ago. Live and learn. This is one of the best examples of the genre I've seen. The lighting is all wrong - old Hollywood studio shot -, but why worry? Boy, are those two blushing! Go for it, Ivan.