Russian avant-garde artists set 22 records at Sotheby's.

At the first auction of this kind in London, works by 22 of 70 contemporary Russian artists were sold for record sums, with many names appearing in the catalog for the first time. The highest value among auction participants was the abstract work “Untitled” by Evgeny Chubarov (1992), which was previously estimated at £60 thousand and went for £288 thousand. Significant sums were earned for works by Eric Bulatov, Mikhail Shvartsman, Lydia Masterkova, Vladimir Weisberg. Almost half of the 172 works put up for sale went for more than the starting price. As noted by the head of the Russian department of Sotheby's Joanna Vickery, the auction results confirm the increased interest of buyers not only in Soviet art of the 70s, but also in works created during the era of perestroika. In total, Sotheby's received £2,630,880 ($5,167,048) for Russian avant-garde artists, which is almost a quarter more than the preliminary cost of the works.

IT DOESN'T SEEM A LITTLE Dumpster of History

Rare photographs of The Beatles were lost due to the carelessness of a cleaning lady.

Photographs of the band dating back to 1963, including the image used in the artwork for the Beatles' first official album, Please Please Me, were stored in an EMI warehouse. Among the 400 negatives and prints were, among others, seven portraits of the band members by renowned photographer Angus McBean. Despite the fact that the boxes of materials were marked with stickers “this is not waste - do not throw away,” an employee of the cleaning company Crystal Services sent a rare photo shoot of the Fab Four to the trash bin. After an internal investigation, the cleaner admitted to what she had done and was fired. However, EMI considered this measure insufficient and, together with Apple Corps, owned by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, filed a lawsuit against Crystal Services, estimating damages at $1.4 million. The statement of claim states that the missing materials were unique and had enormous historical value.

In Australia, Sylvester Stallone suffered a major blow to his reputation
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WHITE CROW Hormonal disruption

Sylvester Stallone faces five years in prison and a $110,000 fine for importing prohibited items into Australia.

A search was carried out in the Sydney Park Hyatt hotel room where Stallone was staying. According to customs officials, during the investigation, things were confiscated from the star that will be used as evidence of the importation of prohibited drugs into the country. In addition, eyewitnesses claim that a bottle of some kind of hormonal drug was thrown out of the windows of Stallone’s room shortly before the search. Sylvester Stallone's private jet and limousine were also searched. The details of the check were not disclosed, but the operation forced the actor to delay his flight out of the country by three hours. The actor was initially detained by Australian customs at the airport because items prohibited for import into the country were found in his luggage and the belongings of those accompanying him. Customs officers did not say what exactly caught their attention, and journalists were quick to assume that these were anabolic steroids, which are used by bodybuilders. Stallone himself, answering questions from journalists, called the incident a misunderstanding and explained that he just “didn’t understand some local rules.”

Rafaelo Benitez (center) enjoyed awarding free kicks to his team
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WILL BE NOT ENOUGH Hangover syndrome

Liverpool's first-team squad fined for drinking.

The head coach of the English football club Liverpool, Rafael Benitez, decided to fine 15 players of his team. The Spaniard punished those players who did not return to the hotel on time during a training camp in Portugal. Benitez said that the players decided to celebrate the end of training camp in a bar, after which they were no longer able to return to the hotel. One of the offenders, Polish goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, admitted to the offense on his official website. “Yes, we were late to the hotel, but we didn’t do anything that the press attributes to us, we didn’t beat the police and didn’t end up in handcuffs at the police station. We violated the regime, the violators, including me, were punished. I think we got It’s a good lesson, and this kind of behavior will not happen again in the future,” the Pole noted. Earlier in Portugal, striker Craig Bellamy was fined an amount equal to two weeks' salary for hitting midfielder Jon-Arne Riise with a golf club.

Stylists valued what was left of the former Britney at $1 million.
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HAMMERED Razor for Britney

Britney Spears' locks are asking $1 million.

The singer shocked her fans by deciding to radically change her hairstyle—or rather, get rid of it. Britney visited the Los Angeles beauty salon Esther's Haircutting Studio, where she demanded to shave her head. While salon owner Esther Tognozzi tried to dissuade her client from taking such a step, she picked up the machine and began shaving her hair herself. According to Esther Tognozzi, she has no idea why the superstar chose her hair salon, and claims that she charged the client the list price of $20. However, Tognozzi still hopes to extract additional profit from the star's visit. Since Spears refused to take her haircut, the salon owner felt she had the right to dispose of it at her own discretion. The very next day, the singer's curls were put up for auction on eBay - along with the hair clipper itself and Spears' unfinished can of Red Bull. Simultaneously with the real lot, a lot of fake ones also appeared on eBay, which is why the administration of the online auction ordered that any lots mentioning the name Britney Spears be removed from sale. Esther Tognozzi was not at a loss and launched her own online auction BuyBritneyHair.Com. The owner of the rarity is asking $1 million for the unique lot. Judging by the fact that before it was removed from eBay, bids on the lot reached $500 thousand, the enterprising hairdresser will be able to get what she wants. However, Esther Tognozzi rejects accusations that she is driven by a thirst for profit. According to her, the proceeds will go to charity - for example, to the Britney Spears Foundation, which helps children from low-income families.

The column is hosted by Anna Rabina

Information from lenta.ru, @music, BBC was used in preparing the materials.

Perestroika in the art market