LONDON.- MacDougall’s announces a monumental painting by Vasily Polenov, He Resolutely Set Out for Jerusalem among the highlights of the Russian Art Auction on 7 June. The work belongs to the famous cycle of paintings From the Life of Christ; the artist wrote that this was “the work to which I devoted almost all my life”.

The emergence of this picture in the art market is a unique event; of the 72 known works in the cycle, most adorn the collections of the largest museums of Russia. This painting, from a European private collection, was included in Polenov's list of works from 1903–-1914, and was exhibited at least twice in his lifetime. The title is a quote from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 9, verse 51. The present work encapsulates the essence of the From the Life of Christ cycle and is one of the most significant of the Gospel episodes, portrayed by Polenov.

MacDougall's Russian Art Auction 7 June is an exciting mini-anthology of Russian Art, and so includes all periods from icons to contemporary. Russian Classic art features work by such masters as Shishkin, Maliavin, Korovin, Petrov-Vodkin, and Polenov, while the Avant-garde section is covered by important names such as Shterenberg, Goncharova. Serebriakova and Baranoff-Rossiné are among the artists representing Émigré art. Later 20th century art is a traditional strong point at MacDougall’s, with Soviet masters as well as Nonconformist and Perestroika art represented by Gerasimov, Terpsikhorov, Nissky, Mylnikov, and Komar and Melamid’s iconic Yalta Conference.