Not everyone in Seattle went to Bumbershoot this weekend. Nina Mikhailenko, the Russian artist whose oils adorn the walls of El Gaucho, the tony Belltown steak house, painted a mixed case from the wine cellar.
How much? Nina's asking $2,500. Seems reasonable, given that the bottles alone would run well into five figures.
Nina's style has its roots in a late-19th century Russian art movement called Peredvishniki, a loose group of itinerants who rebelled against the formal restrictions of the tsarist academy. Instead they painted populist themes: peasants, religious celebrations, landscapes. Her most successful works are commissions: murals of life on Pampas, bullfights, chefs, cigar smokers, jazz musicians, well-fed urbanites...and rare bottles.
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