Rare Ilya Repin drawing of a historic Russian cathedral heads to auction
A rare drawing by Ilya Repin will go under the hammer at the Moscow Auction House on March 1. The pencil sketch, depicting the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral in Nizhny Novgorod, dates back to 1877 and carries deep historical ties. The auction will showcase works by prominent Russian artists, with a combined estimated value of around 1 billion rubles.
The Repin drawing, a small 10 by 15 centimetre piece, holds particular significance. The Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral was a key symbol of 19th-century Russian identity and later appeared in Repin's famous 1890 painting The Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV. Though the painting depicted a 17th-century event, the cathedral's inclusion was an anachronistic nod to imperial grandeur. The starting price for this drawing is set at 600,000 rubles.
The auction's most valuable lot is Ivan Aivazovsky's 1861 painting Moonlit Night in Crimea, estimated at 60 million rubles. Among the more accessible pieces is a graphic work by Yuri Norstein, inspired by his animated film Hedgehog in the Fog, priced at around 80,000 rubles.
The March 1 event will offer collectors a chance to acquire pieces spanning centuries of Russian art. The Repin drawing, with its historical and cultural weight, stands out among the lots. Prices range from modest works to multimillion-ruble masterpieces.
