Now Repin's joined the oligarchs

Now Repin's joined the oligarchs

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norman lebrecht

June 06, 2011

I’ve long had a soft spot for Ilya Repin (1844-1930), a proficient, prolific but by no means revolutionary Russian painter who depicted many of the  great musicians of his century, along with historic reconstructions and social imagery. Good, but not great.

Today, someone paid £4.5 million ($7.2 million) at Christie’s for A Parisian Cafe by Repin.

Makes sense? Only if you’re an oligarch. (Picture courtesy of Christie’s, not the new owner, who is – I hope – unknown to me)

Comments

  • smerus says:

    Oligarchs are clearly undergoing tough times, considering the estimate was $8m. +. Btw surely Repin’s Mussorgsky portrait counts as great?

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