Russian Art Scandals

Russia! magazine pResentsthe 10 biggest s candals on t h e R u s s i a n a R t m a R k et.

№1“Rubens”, Logvinenko’s Ponzi Scheme(German Prosecutor, Loktionov v. Logvinenko)SynopsisLogvinenko paid $3.5 million for a master-piece by Rubens that was seized during WorldWar II. Promising to keep the work in Russia,Logvinenko got support from the governmentand then, in order to sell the piece,gathered funds from investors, but neverfulfilled his obligations to them. The lawsuitagainst Logvinenko is still underway.Cost: $90 million Tarquin and Lucretia, Rubens, 17th century. This early Rubens was seized during the war and bought by Logvinenko, who now wants to sell it.

№2Fake Odalique(Vekselberg v. Christie’s)SynopsisThe Viktor Vekselberg Foundation acquiredthe Kustodiev painting at a Christie’s auctionfor $2.9 million. The painting has turned out tolikely be a forgery, but Christie’s has refutedthe expert appraisal and is delaying the pro-cess in order to avoid responsibility. The auc-tion house’s reputation with Russian buyers isunder question.Cost: $2.9 million Odalisque, oil. Year: unknown, probably mid-20th century. Artist unknown; experts deny that it was Boris Kustodiev

№3Voina(FSB v. Penis)SynopsisThe art activist group Voina painted a hugephallus on the bridge across from the FSBbuilding in St. Petersburg. This did not pleasethe authorities (the artists were arrested), but itdrew quite a response from the public. Britishartist Banksy came to Voina’s aid, selling awork on their behalf.Cost: unknown “Dick in FSB Captivity”, an art action by Voina, was of one the most talked-about cultural actions of the decade, but did not please the authorities.

№4Forbidden Art(The State Revisits Censorship)SynopsisAccusations of inciting religious hatred havebeen thrown at the organizers of the “Forbid-den Art” exhibition, which put works bannedfrom other exhibitions on display behind bar-riers. The government has been accused ofcensorship and attempting to appraise art overwhich it has no authority.Cost: 350,000 rubles The “Forbidden Art” exhibition displayed pieces in special enclosures so that you could only see them through a peephole. But nevertheless, this offended conservatives.

№5Trouble with Ilya Kabakov’s Exhibition Sponsors(Abramovich Replaces Prokhorov)SynopsisThe Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation pulled itspromised funding of the Ilya and Emilia Ka-bakov exhibition, one of the most significantexhibitions of the 21st century, at the lastminute, after finding out that one of the othersponsors was Darya Zhukova. Prokhorov’splace as sponsor was taken over by RomanAbramovich.Cost: $2 million Garage Contemporary Art Center, headed by Darya Zhukova, which held an expensive retrospective of works by the Kabakovs in 2008

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Russian Art Scandals

by russiamagazine on Mar 21, 2011

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Russian Art Scandals — Presentation Transcript