Children worth a million
An arresting children`s portrait, Les Enfants, by the versatile Russian artist Boris Grigoriev, strongly influenced by Paul Cézanne, has gone under the hammer for over one million dollars at Christie`s art sale in New York.
ґPainted in the 1920s, Les Enfants has been described as a "testament to Grigoriev`s skill at rendering emotional intensity and his propensity to imbue a canvas with palpable drama."
Inspired by icon painting, Grigoriev created portraits of some of the key figures in Russian culture, including Anna Akhmatova, Boris Kustodiev and Nicholas Roerich.
His Les Enfants, featuring the twin sisters, Katherine and Mary, dates from Grigoriev`s period in New York, during which he exhibited extensively and successfully, winning accolades from critics and professionals, including James Rosenberg, the founder of one of the most influential New York galleries, the New Gallery.
Grigoriev`s arresting figures are said to have made a profound impression upon the American public, captivated by "the hidden narratives of his insightful portraits".
Another painting to make an impact at Christie`s Russian art sale was Peasant Girls in the Forest by a founding member of the Wanderers group, Aleksei Korzukhin, associated with the most innovative tendencies in Russian art in the latter part of the 19th Century.
The work that once belonged to Vice Admiral Newton A. McCully, a remarkable figure in United States-Russian naval history was sold for $266,500.
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