Bloomberg reports midway through the week of Russian sales in London:

MacDougall Arts Ltd.’s sale of Russian 19th-century and 20th-century paintings raised 5 million pounds ($7.68 million), below the presale low estimate of 12 million pounds. The London- based auction house said its first-ever evening sale ended with “just under 40 percent” of the 62 lots sold. The top two lots accounted for about 40 percent of the total value sold.

(More details after the jump.)

“The poor results today were due to very high estimates and the fact that the market is waiting,” said Alexander Tabalov, a collector from Kiev. “Some potential buyers are waiting for prices to go down.”

Sotheby’s, Christie’s International and Bonhams are also holding Russian-art auctions in London this week, with dealers saying the billionaire-led boom is over. The country’s art- auction prices have risen for nine years, fuelled by an economy that benefited from charging buyers records for oil and metals.

MacDougall’s most expensive lot was a group of 122 original ink drawings by early 20th century painter Konstantin Somov. Some feature graphic sexual scenes. The drawings sold for 1.17 million pounds, below their low estimate of 1.5 million pounds. The seller was an American collector, and the buyer was a Moscow collector, said MacDougall’s.

Russians Shun 60% of London Art Sale, Wait for Prices to Drop (Bloomberg)