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A painting by the Russian modernist Alexander Yakovlev depicting men watching a performance from a theater box in China failed to sell on April 18 at Christie's International in New York.
"Loge de Theatre a Pekin" (1918) had an estimate of $1.8 million to $2.5 million.

Yakovlev painted the 42-by-46-inch tempera on canvas while visiting the Chinese capital on a trip that also included Mongolia and Japan. The painting is one of a few known surviving works from his series dedicated to Chinese theater.

In November, Yakovlev's "Battle of the Warriors" (1918) sold at Sotheby's in London for 916,000 pounds, almost twice its top estimate. The work show actors in ornate Chinese battle costumes fighting in a theater performance.
Ivan Shishkin's 47-by-67-inch oil on canvas, "The Forest Clearing" (1896), sold for $3.17 million on an estimate of $1 million to $1.4 million. The price included a buyer's premium.

"The Shishkin sold well because it is a beautiful decorative work and Russian buyers like those brand names," said Natalia Kournikova, a Moscow art dealer and collector. As for the Yakovlev painting that didn't sell, "the exorbitant estimate didn't match the quality of the work," she said.