ATTLEBORO — A painting by a Russian artist that had gone virtually unnoticed for decades at a local museum was put on public display in New York City yesterday in preparation for an auction that could lead to a $1-million sale.

The auction house Sotheby’s New York said the painting, “Under a Kirghiz Tent” by Alexander Yakovlev, is expected to fetch $800,000 to $1.2 million when it goes up for bid in June.

“Under a Kirghiz Tent” is put up for viewing at Sothebys New York, which will auction the painting in June.

courtesy / Attleboro Arts Museum

The painting was one of two by the artist donated by local resident William Charles Thompson. The other painting, “The Afghans,” hung in the auditorium of the Community School in North Attleboro for years, its value unknown until a town resident alerted officials to its worth in February.

Yakovlev painted “Under a Kirghiz Tent” in 1932 after spending a year traveling through Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, China and Indochina, according to Sotheby’s. Yakovlev created more than 500 pieces of art culled from the sketches and paintings he gathered during the trip. Around the same time, Yakovlev painted “The Afghans,” a 7-foot-by-10-foot depiction of a clan of tribesmen and their horses atop a mountain.

Because “Under a Kirghiz Tent” was created in oil and tempera, a type of egg based paint, the auction house believes the painting was created during the journey and was finished when Yakovlev returned to his home in Paris.

The painting, which depicts a group of Russian nomads sharing a meal, “illustrates [Yakovlev’s] tremendous facility as a draughtsman and underscores his uncanny ability to capture likeness and character,” Sothebys said..

Just how these Russian paintings of Middle Eastern life landed in Southeastern Massachusetts is almost too hard to believe.

When Yakovlev became head of the painting department at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1934, he brought a collection of work with him. As his work made the rounds at shows around Boston, Yakovlev enlisted Vose Galleries, a local dealer, to represent him. Yakovlev died in 1938.

Then came William Charles Thompson.

Thompson, a North Attleboro native and a grandson of one of Vose’s founders, was a salesman for the gallery for 48 years. Before he died, he donated artwork to institutions across the area.

One painting, donated in 1951, ended up on the wall of the auditorium of the Community School in North Attleboro. Another landed in the Attleboro Arts Museum’s vault in 1957.

And for about 50 years, there they sat.

Then a local art aficionado noticed the painting during a church ceremony that was held in the auditorium. He recognized the painter’s name and told Schools Supt. Richard A. Smith. The School Department kept the find a secret until the painting was sent to Sotheby’s for storage, Smith said.

Proceeds from the sale of the painting could be used to create college scholarships for students to study art or help bolster fine arts education within the district, Smith said.

“So much good would be done,” he said. “[William Charles] Thompson would have the legacy he hasn’t had because no one knew or cared who the donor was.”

The North Attleboro School Committee supports the sale of the painting, Smith said, but the Board of Selectmen must approve the sale of any town-owned property. That board has held off making a decision about the fate of the painting until it receives more information, said William Moffett, chairman of the board.

If the painting were sold, the town would need to establish a trust fund to dictate how the money would be dispersed and for what projects, Moffett said. If the town were to keep it, it would need to insure the painting for around $1 million, Moffett said. And then there’s the question of where to hang it.

“We all agree that the original intent to hang the painting on that wall is now impractical,” Moffett said. “So what do you do next? Whatever we do, we should honor the donor’s intention as much as possible.”

Over the next week, Moffett said the board would meet with representatives of the family and the School Department to discuss the town’s options. The board will take up the issue again on April 19.

“It’s a unique opportunity to make something happen that would benefit children 100 years from now and beyond,” Smith said. “I wouldn’t want to see that opportunity slip away.”

The Attleboro Arts Museum decided to sell its painting not long after Sotheby’s authenticated the work in February, said Mim Fawcett, the museum’s executive director. Since then, “Under a Kirghiz Tent” has been at the auction house and will be on display through Sunday, said Lauren Gioia, a Sotheby’s spokeswoman. It will be auctioned June 12.

The museum had stored the painting in the vault since it was donated, Fawcett said. The painting was not exhibited during that time because there wasn’t room — or time — as new exhibits rotated in and out, she said.

“We change our exhibits every six to eight weeks and that is a very aggressive schedule for an art museum to try to do that to appeal to everyone,” she said.

The museum plans to rename the museum school the W. Charles Thompson Museum School at the Attleboro Arts Museum to honor the donor’s legacy, Fawcett said. Proceeds from the auction will be used to expand and improve art programs at the museum. Among the programs the museum is working on is a lecture series that will include expert discussion on Russian art, including the very painting the museum is selling.

“All of the funding will channel directly back into the community in the form of art classes and high-quality exhibitions,” Fawcett said. “It’s turning art into art in a very lovely way.”

With reports from Projo.com Staff Writer Michael P. McKinney

tbuford@projo.com