Sotheby’s Russian Paintings Part I auction will feature exceptional works from the late 19th and 20th centuries. The auction is being held in New Bond Street, London today.

Among the highlights of the sale is a magnificent view of Santa Maria della Salute in Venice by Alexei Bogoliubov which comes to auction for the first time with an impressive provenance having been in the collection of King Christian IX of Denmark and subsequently that of Queen Mary of Great Britain.

Conversely, Nikolai Dubovskoy’s The Land is a museum-quality example of a Russian artist turning to his homeland for inspiration, an approach which can be seen in Abram Arkhipov’s composition The Farewell, or in The Stormy Road, a rare work by Leonid Solomatkin. The most dramatic work in the sale is undoubtedly Alexander Yakovlev’s powerful The Kuli-Kuta Dance, a depiction of a West African high priestess dancing in honour of Sango, the great god of thunder and lightning. Stunningly modern in its rendering of movement and space, this key work from the Citroën expedition La Croisière Noire, marks the continuing influence of African Primitivism on masters of Western Art, such as Picasso and Braque. (Source: Sotheby’s)