The charity auction took place in the open square of Lendok film studios with local celebrities and St. Petersburg's art community as guests. Paintings composed by Sergei Semak, Mikhail Kerzhakov, Serdar Azmun, Sebastian Driussi, Magomed Ozdoev, Alexander Erokhin, Douglas Santos, Daler Kuzyaev, Igor Smolnikov, Emanuel Mammani and Emiliano Rigoni were all put up for auction in aid of the Anton is Near autism charity.

The players created their interpretations of Kazimir Malevich's "Black Square" back in July 2019 as part of Zenit and the State Hermitage Museum's cooperation agreement. Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the Hermitage and a Trustee of the Anton is Near Foundation, gave the players a tour of the Hermitage before the footballers had an art lesson and painted their creations in various shades of blue, white and sky blue.

All fund raised by Zenit and the Hermitage during the art auction will be donated to the Anton Is Near Charitable Foundation who've asked us to pass on their thanks to both the club and the museum.