Over the last 10 years, the market for Russian art has grown by a factor of 30 and now accounts for $400 million in sales a year, and the role of Russians on the international art market is ever more noticeable. In turn, art scandals involving Russians are also increasing in number. Russia! magazine has published a Top 10 rating of the biggest scandals on the Russian art market at the beginning of 21st century.
2. №1
“Rubens”, Logvinenko’s Ponzi Scheme
(German Prosecutor, Loktionov v. Logvinenko)
Synopsis
Logvinenko paid $3.5 million for a master-
piece by Rubens that was seized during World
War II. Promising to keep the work in Russia,
Logvinenko got support from the government
and then, in order to sell the piece,
gathered funds from investors, but never
fulfilled his obligations to them. The lawsuit
against 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.
3. №2
Fake Odalique
(Vekselberg v. Christie’s)
Synopsis
The Viktor Vekselberg Foundation acquired
the Kustodiev painting at a Christie’s auction
for $2.9 million. The painting has turned out to
likely be a forgery, but Christie’s has refuted
the expert appraisal and is delaying the pro-
cess in order to avoid responsibility. The auc-
tion house’s reputation with Russian buyers is
under question.
Cost: $2.9 million
Odalisque, oil. Year: unknown, probably mid-20th century. Artist unknown; experts deny
that it was Boris Kustodiev
4. №3
Voina
(FSB v. Penis)
Synopsis
The art activist group Voina painted a huge
phallus on the bridge across from the FSB
building in St. Petersburg. This did not please
the authorities (the artists were arrested), but it
drew quite a response from the public. British
artist Banksy came to Voina’s aid, selling a
work 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.
5. №4
Forbidden Art
(The State Revisits Censorship)
Synopsis
Accusations of inciting religious hatred have
been thrown at the organizers of the “Forbid-
den Art” exhibition, which put works banned
from other exhibitions on display behind bar-
riers. The government has been accused of
censorship and attempting to appraise art over
which 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.
6. №5
Trouble with Ilya Kabakov’s Exhibition Sponsors
(Abramovich Replaces Prokhorov)
Synopsis
The Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation pulled its
promised funding of the Ilya and Emilia Ka-
bakov exhibition, one of the most significant
exhibitions of the 21st century, at the last
minute, after finding out that one of the other
sponsors was Darya Zhukova. Prokhorov’s
place as sponsor was taken over by Roman
Abramovich.
Cost: $2 million
Garage Contemporary Art Center, headed by Darya Zhukova, which held an expensive
retrospective of works by the Kabakovs in 2008
