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Seizure Fears Soothed, Russia Sends Paintings to London

by Zoe Strimpel
Thu, 10 Jan 2008 at 12:33 PM

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To the enormous relief of those who had been planning it for years and at great expense, Russia yesterday confirmed it would honor its commitment to the Royal Academy of Arts, and ship over the paintings needed for the museum's high-profile exhibit, "From Russia: French and Russian Master Paintings 1870–1925," due to open January 26. The first shipments were to arrive in England on Monday from Düsseldorf, where they have been on display. So with preparations for the show running behind schedule, it could be a scramble to get it all ready in time.

The reason Moscow gave for canceling the exhibit, back in December, was concern about Britain's lack of anti-seizure laws and fear that the paintings could be confiscated on the claims of heirs whose ancestors owned the works before the Communists took them in 1917.

But in the nick of time, the culture secretary, James Purnell, managed to expedite the anti-seizure laws due to go into effect next month. They came through on January 7.

This was a significant affair that went beyond logistics and art. That it has been resolved does little to dispel the sense of a troubling descent in relations between London and Moscow. The downhill started after the poisoning of the ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko in London in November 2006 and Russia's refusal to extradite the main suspect to England for trial.

The Royal Academy maintains a cheery face and refuses to comment on delays — or indeed, acknowledge that it was ever in doubt of the exhibit going ahead. This is striking, considering that the show was widely reported to have been canceled in December. (Guess you can't believe everything you read in the papers.) "Everything is absolutely fine," a spokeswoman said. "It's all going ahead as planned."

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