YEREVAN, 19 MAY, ARMENPRESS. The painting of Hovhannes Aivazovsky titled "American Shipping off the Rock of Gibraltar" will be the main lot of the Christie's "Russian" auction to be held in London. As "Armenpress" reports, RIA Novosti was informed about it by the representative of the auction house. The auction will take place on June 1.

Christie’s Russian Art sale on 1st of June will offer a selection of works by numerous highly sought-after artists including Ilya Mashkov, Niko Pirosmani, Nicholas Roerich and Ivan Aivazovsky. Session II will offer Russian Works of Art from the esteemed workshops of Fabergé, private and Imperial porcelain factories and renowned sculptors. This sale continues Christie’s distinctive focus on offering works from private sources (over 75%), many of which are appearing at auction for the first time in history.

Ivan Aivazovsky’s American shipping off the Rock of Gibraltar is one of the finest examples by Russia's superlative maritime artist to ever appear at auction. Of museum quality, this work was painted in 1873 and sold for the first time at Christie’s in 2007, establishing a new world auction record for the artist at £2.7 million, which was maintained for five years. An artist who enjoyed the patronage of three successive Tsars, in this work Aivazovsky captures the dawn of the steam age, depicting an American ship crossing the waters of the Mediterranean (estimate: £2,000,000-2,500,000,).