The Russian Master

Ian Callinan

Davenport Jones, acknowledged expert on 20th century European art, is invited to join the staff of Londys, an old and distinguished  London firm of auctioneers. His task is to induce a famous Russian master to consign his life’s work for auction by the firm. Davenport becomes infatuated with the artist’s niece who is fighting her cousin for custody of the collection. The novel follows Davenport’s at times hilarious progress through the tangled art market of London, his wooing of the beautiful young niece, the reappearance of his former wife, the proceedings of a London tribunal that decides disputed questions of ownership, and reaches its unexpected conclusion in a dacha on the outskirts of St Petersburg.