Makovsky's Canvas "Blind Man's Bluff" broke the world record at Sotheby's in London

The Russian painting broke the world record on Sotneby: Makovsky's canvas "Blind Man's Bluff" went away with a twofold excess of the estimate.

From the traditional “Russian week” in London, which occupies only three days this year (from November 26 to November 28), no one expected any serious records. Only a few lots from thousands of auction houses represented at four auction houses - Sotheby`s, Christie`s, MacDougall`s and Bonhams - valued above £ 1 million. One of them, Konstantin Makovsky's "Blind Man's Bluff" sold for £ 4.3 million (about $ 5.5 million), which was a world record for the Russian master painting.

Sotheby's most ambitious and expensive lot - Konstantin Makovsky's two-meter canvas “Hidden Duffel” - was estimated at £ 2-3 million. This is the maximum estimate for the entire “Russian week”. The work was written in the heyday of the neo-Russian style: a cheerful scene of the game of the blind man's buffoon returns the viewer to pre-Petrine times. Children frolicking in the picture, the artist wrote from his own.

The work was repeatedly demonstrated during the life of Makovsky, and after his death Niva magazine used it as an illustration to the obituary, as one of the most famous and characteristic of him. It was obvious that this textbook thing will arouse interest among collectors. And he was even stronger than one would expect.

The previous record for painting Makovsky was set ten years ago at the same Sotheby`s. Then the meter canvas "From the daily life of the Russian boyar of the end of the XVII century" was sold for £ 2 million ($ 4.2 million). Now that record is broken, a new one is set. Perhaps this will be the main sensation of the “Russian week”. However, the bidding is not over yet: tomorrow, November 28, is the final day.