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ATTLEBORO - Efforts to sell the Russian painting "Afghans" seem to be stalled in North Attleboro, but the Attleboro Arts Museum has authorized the auction of its own painting by Alexandre Iacovleff and hopes to realize up to $1.2 million from the sale.

Proceeds from selling the museum's painting, "Under a Kirghiz Tent," will support its arts classes, cultural programs, lectures and art exhibits, Museum Executive Director Mim Brooks Fawcett said Tuesday.

Sotheby's auction house in New York City has estimated the painting will bring $800,000 to $1.2 million. It will be auctioned at Sotheby's London on June 12.

The museum is selling the painting to maximize the benefit of the gift from the late W. Charles Thompson, Fawcett said.

Thompson, who donated the "Afghans" painting to North Attleboro schools in 1951, also donated "Under a Kirghiz Tent" to the non-profit Attleboro museum upon his death in 1957. Iacovleff paintings are considered hot properties among Russian art collectors, and one of his works recently sold for $2 million.

"There's great interest in the Russian art market right now," Fawcett said. "The way the market is directed, we're thinking it is the right time.

"We really are grateful for a gift that has impacted the organization in this way."

The museum also has renamed its museum school the W. Charles Thompson Museum School at the Attleboro Arts Museum, Fawcett said.

The 4-foot by 7-foot painting is on display at Sotheby's New York today through Sunday, she said.

The painting was a centerpiece of the museum when it was located in a small house in Capron Park, but has not been on display in decades, and not since the museum moved downtown.

Fawcett said she has notified Thompson's family of the museum's decision.

"They understand that it is the museum's decision on the future of the painting," she said.

Iacovleff produced numerous paintings in the 1930s - "Under a Kirghiz Tent" was completed in 1932 - but he was relatively unknown in the Attleboro area until February.

That's when North Attleboro school officials learned a painting hanging for more than 50 years in the Community School auditorium was Iacovleff's "Afghans,"and could be worth more than $1 million. The town has been divided over whether to sell the painting, or hang on to it.

The North Attleboro school committee has already voted to sell "Afghans," and hoped it would be auctioned next week, with proceeds to support arts programs in the town's schools.

But North Attleboro selectmen, who must approve the sale, have put off discussion of the matter until April 19. Some members of the board have expressed reluctance to sell the painting.

The Attleboro Arts Museum pulled "Under a Kirghiz Tent" from storage after Iacovleff's "Afghans" was rediscovered in North Attleboro, then had it authenticated and appraised.

Fawcett said the debate in North Attleboro did not affect the museum.

"We certainly were aware of what's happening, but this was the museum's decision," she said.

MICHAEL GELBWASSER can be reached at 508-236-0372 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.