St Petersburg: It`s no Picasso, but a painting by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has sold for more than a million dollars at a charity auction in his hometown of St. Petersburg.
Putin`s picture of a frost-rimed window in a traditional log hut was among artworks by well-known Russians from various walks of life that were auctioned on Saturday to raise money for a hospital, a church and a cancer clinic in the city.
Moscow gallery owner Natalya Kurnikova snapped the painting up for 37 million rubles ($1.1 million). She said she bought it because it could be the first and last painting of its kind.
Putin`s painting brought in more than any of the others on auction. A painting by opera singer Anna Netrebko fetched 1.1 million rubles ($34,000).
Text: AP
Image: Staffers of a Russian charity hold an oil painting by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday. (Photograph copyright AP. Unauthorised reproduction is prohibited.)
