![\"Russia](\"https:\/\/www.lequotidiendelart.com\/media\/cache\/article_page_cover\/shared\/article-image\/26327.jpg\")
On Friday, February 25, we learned via a press release of the suspension of the loan to China of 280 artworks belonging to the Matisse Museum in Le Cateau-Cambr\u00e9sis.\n\u00a9 Photo Richard Soberka\/hemis.fr.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As sanctions against Russia tighten, the cultural sector
\nis not spared: many events in Europe will be
\naffected by the freeze on exchanges.<\/p>\n
by Jordane de Fa\u00ff, Aison Moss, Rafael Pic and Jade Pillaudin<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Following the aggression against Ukraine, Russia finds the doors of the West
\nclosing: it has been excluded from many events it was a
\nlong-standing participant in, from the Football World Cup to Eurovision, from the EuroLeague
\nbasketball to concerts by conductor Valery Gergiev, from the mission to
\nMars to the International Olympic Committee. When it is not a retaliatory
\nmeasure, participants themselves decide to throw in the towel, as was the case
\nthis Monday with the members of the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
\nLive performance will be particularly affected with the cancellation of tours
\nby ballets, musicians, and theater companies. In the field of architecture, one
\ncan predict a slowdown in ongoing projects: if the Hermitage
\ntwin towers in La D\u00e9fense had not been abandoned last January, it is
\nhighly probable that the decision would have been made now. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In a globalized art world, major blockbuster exhibitions are
\ninseparable from loans between countries. Currently, the most
\nemblematic global example is the Morozov collection shown at the
\nLouis Vuitton Foundation: several years of negotiation and the blessing of
\nVladimir Putin himself were necessary to move these masterpieces,
\nwhose insurance value is kept secret but exceeds one billion euros. <\/p>\n
The cost of transport (around forty convoys) as well as Louis Vuitton’s
\ncommitment to finance restorations or modernization projects
\nfor museums in Moscow or Saint Petersburg are part of a genuine
\nmedium-term partnership. As with the previous installment dedicated to
\nthe Shchukin collection (1.2 million visitors), it has been a success:
\nby a scandalous coincidence, the exhibition surpassed one million admissions
\non February 23, the day before the Russian attack… Voices quickly rose to
\ndemand the seizure of this unique collection. This would set a precedent that
\nwould contravene current legislation. Article 61 of the law of August 8, 1994,
\nstipulates: “Cultural property loaned by a foreign power,
\na foreign public entity or cultural institution, intended to be
\nexhibited to the public in France, is immune from seizure for the period of its loan to the French
\nState or any legal entity designated by it. A joint decree from the Minister
\nof Culture and the Minister of Foreign Affairs sets, for each exhibition,
\nthe list of cultural property, determines the duration of the loan, and designates the organizers
\nof the exhibition. ” A specific law would therefore be needed, or we would have to enter
\na grey area with the expiration of the immunity decree. The first was
\nissued on February 19, 2021, then renewed on January 6, 2022, due to
\nthe extension of the exhibition until April 3. Its effect will remain for a good
\nmonth after closing, until May 15 (an additional period initially
\ndesigned to allow for a comfortable return of the artworks). It should be noted that of
\nthe seven museums covered, five are Russian (Tretyakov Gallery, Pushkin Museum
\nand Ekaterina Cultural Foundation in Moscow; Russian Museum and Hermitage Museum
\nin Saint Petersburg), one Belarusian (National Art Museum of Minsk),
\nand one Ukrainian (Dnipropetrovsk Art Museum). A comparable situation
\narises in England with the Faberg\u00e9 collection currently
\non display at the V&A in London. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What about major public institutions? “The Louvre Museum is in constant
\ncontact with its supervisory ministry \u2013 the Ministry of Culture \u2013 and the Ministry of
\nEurope and Foreign Affairs regarding the monitoring of projects, artworks, and
\nstaff who might be impacted by the events affecting
\nUkraine and Russia,” the museum informs us, noting that there are no
\ncurrent or upcoming exhibition projects with Russian or
\nUkrainian institutions. However, it is currently lending 6 artworks (including a deposit
\nat Versailles) to the Kremlin Museum for the exhibition titled “Duel. From trial by
\ncombat to noble crime,” scheduled from March 3 to June 16 (the departments concerned
\nbeing Decorative Arts, Paintings, and Graphic Arts), whose opening is obviously
\nin question. The museum has no loans in Ukraine. Regarding its
\nstaff, three were in Moscow in recent days, as part of monitoring loans
\nto the Kremlin Museum, and have now returned to France.
\nChristophe Leribault, president of the Mus\u00e9e d’Orsay, curious about Nordic
\nand Central European scenes, had, shortly before the offensive began,
\ntraveled to Russia to explore future avenues:
\n“There were no Russian projects in the exhibition schedule planned
\nby my predecessor for the coming years. I would, of course, have liked to take
\nup the torch following the success of the Repin retrospective at the Petit Palais.
\nUnfortunately, the conditions are no longer met.” The Centre Pompidou, for its part,
\nis looking at its loans in countries bordering Ukraine,
\npotentially impacted by the war: “We currently have no artworks on loan
\nin Russia or Ukraine, but we have ongoing loans in Hungary, Poland,
\nand Romania. Of course, the National Museum of Modern Art is in communication with these institutions,
\nbut for now, there is no change in relation to the international context.” <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Some exhibitions narrowly avoided repatriation problems.
\nFor Repin, which attracted 130,000 visitors and closed on January 23 at the Petit
\nPalais, the artworks were received in Russia about ten days ago,
\njust before the offensive began. In the opposite direction, the same
\nis true at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, with the exhibition that honored
\npart of the donation of drawings by Florence and Daniel Guerlain to the Centre
\nPompidou. Until January 30 \u2013 the exhibition’s closing date \u2013 the rooms of 19th
\nand 20th-century European and American art housed a selection
\nof works, which returned safely at the last minute. Florence Guerlain notes,
\nhowever, increasingly evident tensions within the Russian institution
\nduring the exhibition’s organization, palpable despite their “absolute silence”.
\n“It took a long time to get news of the artworks. They took
\na long time to return,” she explains. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the region, the Nord department was the first to take measures
\nradical to mitigate the geopolitical uncertainty of the coming months: Friday
\nFebruary 25, we learned of the suspension of the loan of 280 artworks belonging<\/p>\n
On Friday, February 25, we learned via a press release of the suspension of the loan to China of 280 artworks belonging to the Matisse Museum in Le Cateau-Cambr\u00e9sis.
\n\u00a9 Photo Richard Soberka\/hemis.fr.<\/p>\n