LONDON.- Holding three auctions on 1 and 2 December 2010, MacDougall's sold Russian paintings, works on paper, icons and works of art for a total of £16.2 million, outselling three older auction houses in Russian art.

The biggest sensation of London's Russian week was The Little Cowboy by Russian-American artist Nikolai Fechin, which sold for £6.96 million (against a pre-sale estimate of £500,000-700,000), the highest price ever paid at auction for a painting by this artist. The successful sale of this work, painted by Fechin in 1940 in the Unites States, proved once more the potential of the Russian art market for further growth, as well as the leading position held by MacDougall's.

• Ivan Shishkin's View of Valaam Island. Kukko sold for £1.87 million, the second highest result achieved during Russian week.

• Ilya Repin's Returning Home, sold for £822,600.

New records were also set during MacDougall's Russian Works on Paper sale, held on 1 December. The auction raised over £1.1 million in total, the top lots selling several times more than their pre-sale estimate. The cover lot 13, Nubian with a Waterpipe by Michail Zichy sold for £162,000 (against an estimate of £40,000) and lot 18, Winter in Jukki by Nikolai Dormidontov sold for £74,000 (against estimate of £20,000).

Catherine MacDougall commented "We are pleased for all our clients who acquired beautiful works and we are happy to be of service”.