Scroll down to see Alexandra's favourite lots. Sergei Pugachev once owned two major shipyards, the world's biggest mine and large chunks of real estate in Moscow and St Petersburg, as well as the Mezhprombank, which he co-founded in the 1990s. 797 following. I never failed to fill one. By 2015, he was dividing his time between France and the family home in London and claimed to be number 3 on Kremlin's hitlist. Estimate: 2,000-2,500. The sale runs until November 25 on christies.com. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. Healthy mother-of-two, 32, collapsed and died from brain bleed while she led fitness bounce class. Xander Haveron-Jones talks with Countess Alexandra on cultivating an aesthetic, the liberation of stylistic reinvention, and her infamous billionaire marriage. Alexandra Tolstoy's Instagram: @alexandratolstoy Simon Brown 1/8 Two rows of botanical prints and antique celadon vases on plinths help to break up the height of this lofty, light-filled space on the first floor. Sign up for the latest news, offers and styles, Use left/right arrows to navigate the slideshow or swipe left/right if using a mobile device, The Tolstoy Edit x SJ Axelby Interior Portraits, choosing a selection results in a full page refresh. For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the Settings & Account section. But its absurd Putin just wouldnt care about that. Having once enjoyed an intensely close friendship, even spending many holidays together, by the time Alexandra met Sergei, he had only seen Putin once, in all those years., Alexandra asks if Ive watched Dirty John on Netflix, and compares theirs to the romance underpinned by the manipulation of the sociopathic significant other: I just find the psychology of being a sociopath or narcissism so fascinating; this creating of narratives that are literally just complete lies, but I think they end up half-believing them She later asks if Ive read And Quiet Flows the Don, saying that the relationship at the beginning is very, very similar; it just feels so full of danger and its very raw, and often angry, but then very passionate to me, it felt really like I was so in love. Reflecting on their marriage, and his moments of physical violence and control over her, she says that there were signs there, but she just didnt know how to read or understand them., I think the real truth was that, yes, he wasnt bowing down to Putin, but he also had a business partner who he was very close to for years, and that business partner left [and it was at this point that Sergei began having business difficulties]; Sergei himself was no kind of businessman. Tolstoy first met Sergei, then a Russian senator and trusted friend of Putin who had separated from his wife, when asked to give him English lessons while she was living in Moscow with Galimzyanov. The self-described "Anglo-Russian adventurer" has travelled by horse and camel (yes, you read that right) for nine months on the Silk Road across central Asia to China, hosted a BBC TV . Tolstoy was educated at Downe House, [2] and then studied for a Master of Arts degree in Russian at the University of Edinburgh, during the course of which she spent a year in Russia. Estimate: 2,000-3,000. "The Scottish cupboard lined with striped fabric by Colefax. 10:55 EST 03 Nov 2020 Now I embrace embroidery, vintage Fair Isle knitwear from eBay and clothes by the Russian designer Russmotive, which reprints old fabric designs. Alexandra Tolstoy Travel personalising content and ads, providing social media features and to Contestant shares behind the scenes secrets from the hit quiz show - revealing there's NO studio audience and how the Chaser's identity is kept secret, The ultimate pre-lockdown to-do list! We had unusual hanging space in Glebe Place - the huge windows meant there wasnt much wall space but what we did have was a big open wall and needed something on a similar scale. Tolstoy has also partnered with Ampersand Travel to curate boutique tours of Russia, and garnered a loyal following across her trio of Instagram accounts. I've never felt such a connection to someone ever.'. I wanted to cleanse that whole phase of my life and get back to who I really was, she says of her decision to sell off her designer wares. Alexandra said: 'The sale of the interiors from my Chelsea townhouse at Christies London marks a new chapter in my life. Shortly afterwards I introduced her to Emma for decoration help with other projects globally and the relationship grew and grew. A highlight is a 19th-century Russian painted pine model, below, of the Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius outside Moscow. Anne-Jessica Faure, a lawyer for Mr Pugachev, said there has been no court decision establishing financial wrongdoing by him. Countess Alexandra Tolstoy is the daughter of Count Nikolai Tolstoy-Miloslavsky, the current head of the noble House of Tolstoy, distantly related to Leo Tolstoy, and the separated wife of Sergei Pugachev, a Russian oligarch who was once worth $15 billion and was amongst Putins inner circle. There are many treasured items that I sourced and selected over the years with the expert guidance of decorators at Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler. Being in these places is, to me, the ultimate luxury. Countess Alexandra Tolstoy. Student journalism does not come cheap. I have a lot of energy. Search instead in. He was in a public dispute with Vladimir Putin, so it was dangerous for us to visit Russia for a long time. Please, She married an Uzbek horseman and rode the length of the Silk Road; lived the oligarch lifestyle with Putins banker; and now leads intrepid group tours of the Stans, A Kyrgyz camp in Naryn region, Kyrgyzstan, Yasnaya Polyana, Leo Tolstoys former redoubt. It was the love story of my life, and it did feel dangerous he was this very powerful person, and he did turn on me sometimes in the early days, but there was this drama of winning him back round; I didnt realise that this was all very dangerous abusive pattern., Alexandra believes Sergei spun a false narrative to malign her and distract from his own culpability for the disastrous failure of his business interests; particularly, Sergei blames his downfall on the fact that Putin supposedly disliked his marriage to a foreigner, which she frustratedly contests: Its a very narcissistic thing to do; he made up this whole narrative [in the documentary] which suited its all about belittling me, and by saying that particularly to his close family it gave them a narrative that it was my fault that everything had gone wrong for him; he blamed it on me, saying that Putin didnt like me. But the eventual dramatic unravelling of their liaison was laid bare in a documentary which aired last week on BBC, The Countess and the Russian billionaire. Image courtesy of Christies, Tolstoys happy working relationship with Slowik dates back more than a decade. It is not dated and is a little unusual and quirky with the beaded detail. Sergei, who left Russia in 2011, claims that after relations between him and Putin cooled, the Kremlin tried to seize or destroy his business empire. Alexandra's Russian heritage was also crucial for determining the schemes, and drove much of the eclectic, pattern-filled decoration. I note how impossible it must be to represent oneself in a society where value and status is projected through selfsame designer clothes and modern houses, which is entirely different to the way she represents herself now. Shes a pin-up for authentic prairie chic. She spent her gap year in Russia. We're excited to be offered a peek into the world of Alexandra Tolstoy. Alexandra Tolstoy published many books (" I worked for the Soviets", 1934; " Father. One such piece is a Dolce & Gabbana star print dress (290, pictured up top), which she wore during a trip to Monaco in 2011, the same year she attended the wedding of Prince Albert II and Charlene Wittstock there. I was always scouring around. Images from the time show her looking the bohemian ideal, wearing romantic blouses whilst leading horseback tours through the wilderness. I started the Preloved business originally with the idea of cleansing my own wardrobe, she explains. The Russian Orthodox cross is a staple of Ms Tolstoy's apparel. It was shocking how he had absolutely no clue about finances, about running a company; it was shocking basic accounting, he didnt even understand. VASLII BEREZHNOI. When I was in Sergeis chteau, he wouldnt really let me do anything anyway. Our relationship was wonderful when we were in the wilds, but in the city it was just awful and unhappy. Some years into this life, she was visited by Tatiana Schaufuss, an old friend who had spent several years in prison and in exile in Siberia. I think its difficult for anybody in those circumstances to be creative; how can you be original? We camp and sometimes people have reservations about that. Among the treasures coming to auction are an impressive group of botanical prints (above) sourced by Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, and a pair of George Smart felt pictures (below) from around 1820 that once hung in the childrens bedroom. The pinnacle of Tolstoys new fashion life was dressing for Prince Albert of Monacos wedding in July 2011, an occasion which called for two new couture dresses: a yellow Fifties-style Princess Grace look dress by Giambattista Valli for the day ceremony, followed by Valentino for the evening. In Nice, he was visited by the DIA who demanded repayment of the billion dollar loan and threatened his family, saying they could 'cut off his son's finger and send it back to him.'. Tap into Getty Images' global scale, data-driven insights, and network of more than 340,000 creators to create content exclusively for your brand. Her travel business leading expeditions through the former Russian empire is on hold at the moment because of coronavirus and she has no help from Pugachev. It was a therapeutic process. ", The house, though small, was designed to work well for entertaining, but also as a space where Alexandra's children could play and be comfortable. But an experience like that opens your mind. I speak fluent Russian now, but growing up in the UK my mother is very English and we lived in the countryside I didnt feel at all Russian. | Our privacy policy, Website design and operation by Nelson Fernandes Serrao. 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