Story By: Anastasia Smirnova, Sub-Editor:  Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

A painting from a Russian artist whose works have been sold for over 500,000 GBP has been discovered in a museum years after it went missing in a war.

The work by Russian artist Aleksandr Golovin named ‘Portrait of E. Tatevosyan in a Bedouin Headband’ was found in Moscow’s Tretyakov Gallery during the preparation for an exhibition dedicated to another Russian painter named Vasily Polenov.

Golovin’s painting went missing from one of the museums of the city of Grozny in south-western Russia’s Chechen Republic during one of the Chechen wars which hit the region in the 1990s.

Local media report that the painting is currently being studied by a team of experts and will be sent back to the Chechen National museum after all the works are done.

There is no information about the painting in any of the Chechen museums, as most of the documentation was burnt during the military operations there.

Golovin, who died in 1930 at the age of 67, is known for his skillful combination of symbolism and modernism in his work.

He participated in designing the Russian Empire pavilion at the 1900 Paris World Fair.

His work “The Young Bartholomew” was sold for 647,310 USD (504,253 GBP) in 2014, while “Portrait of a Lady” fetched 132,709 USD (103,380 GBP) in 2012.

He is remembered for providing outstanding set design for Igor Stravinsky’s ‘The Firebird’ ballet which was released in 1910.

The first Chechen war took place from December 1994 to August 1996, and was was a rebellion by the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria against the Russian Federation.

The battle phase of the Second Chechen War took place from August 1999 to April 2000.

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