LONDON (AFP) — The Royal Academy in London unveiled Tuesday the controversial art exhibition "From Russia", which almost never happened due to diplomatic wrangling between London and Moscow.
The show, which features masterpieces by Russian and French artists including Matisse, Renoir, Van Gogh, Kandinsky and Malevich, opens to the public Saturday.
It was only given the green light on January 9 after a row over whether the paintings would be safe from potential seizure by people claiming they were looted from their families after the 1917 Russian Revolution.
The furore was resolved when Britain passed an order preventing any seizure, although some disaffected relatives continued to stake their claim to ownership of the works outside the gallery Tuesday.
Resolving the issue was complicated by the tense relations between London and Moscow over Russia's refusal to extradite the chief suspect in the 2006 London murder of former spy Alexander Litvinenko.
The show features more than 120 works dating from between 1870 and 1925 from Russia's four largest art galleries, including the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg and the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.
Among the highlights are Matisse's "The Dance II", which appears in Britain for the first time and was recently described by the Guardian newspaper's art critic as "the most beautiful modern painting in the world".
"From Russia" is divided into four sections.
The first charts the work of French and Russian realists including Repin and Daubigny; the second features works assembled by collectors Ivan Morosov and Sergei Shchukin including by Monet and Picasso; the third focuses on theatrical impresario Sergei Diaghilev, founder of the Ballets Russes; and the fourth looks at modernism.
The exhibition highlights parallels between the development of Russian and French painting and how French art influenced Russian painters such as Malevich and Kandinsky.
While officials at the Royal Academy seem pleased to have resolved the dispute, the French descendants of Morosov and Shchukin continued to protest their discontent.
"It's a time to remember that these are stolen paintings," Andre-Marc Delocque-Fourcaud, Shchukin's grandson, told AFP, adding that the Russian revolutionaries had committed the "biggest hold-up in the history of art".
He has not sought their return but hopes that the plundering of works in 1918, on Lenin's orders, will be officially recognised and that relatives will receive compensation and input into how they are displayed.
But Pierre Konowaloff, Morozov's great-grandson, said he wanted the paintings returned, or full compensation.
"The works must belong to their legal owners," said Konowaloff, a descendant of White Russians: those who opposed the revolutionary forces in early 20th century. He criticised Britain for having passed a "villainous law" to prevent the paintings being seized.
Sir Norman Rosenthal, exhibition secretary of the Royal Academy, dismissed such arguments.
"The revolution of 1917, it's history -- the paintings must belong to everybody," he said.
Achim Middleschulte, art advisor for energy giant EON, which is sponsoring the exhibition, added: "It's the best possible publicity."
"From Russia" runs at the Royal Academy of Art in London from January 26 to April 18.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
