A battle worth a million
A painting by the leading light of Russian landscape, Ivan Aivazovsky, whose works fetch seven-figure prices at auctions around the world, has fetched over $1 million at an auction in Sweden.
ґParadoxically enough, the owner of the painting by the 19th century artist had initially expected to get no more than $1,500 for the painting he thought as "of no importance".
"When we told him what it was worth, the air in the room turned electric," auctioneer Knut Knutson of Uppsala Auction House told the Local, a Swedish news bulletin.
Aivazovsky`s the Battle of Bomarsund which, according to the Local, had been left to its owner by his wife after she passed away, had been hanging on his wall for almost a decade.
Moving to a new house, the man put together a couple of boxes with old stuff he wanted to get rid of, including Aivazovsky`s painting.
He got in touch with a local auction house, sending them the following note: "Will you accept these things? Sell what you can and leave the rest to the Red Cross!"
Art historians from the Uppsala Auction House, some 70 kilometers north of the capital Stockholm, were shocked to learn it was a painting worth a million.
"I have been working in this business since 1980 and I have seen a lot, but this amazingly unlikely story easily takes the cake," Knut Knutson of Uppsala Auction House was quoted as saying.
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