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Two pictures from blockbuster Paris Russian collection show to stay in France

One picture, currently owned by a Russian oligarch targeted by Western sanctions, and another, belonging to a Ukrainian museum will stay in France for the moment.

Published: 9 April 2022 15:54 CEST
Two pictures from blockbuster Paris Russian collection show to stay in France

Two pictures from the smash hit Paris art exhibition of masterpieces collected by Russian afficionado Ivan Morozov are to remain in France due to circumstances created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the French culture ministry said Saturday.

One picture, currently owned by a Russian oligarch targeted by Western sanctions, and another, belonging to a Ukrainian museum, “will stay in France,” the ministry said Saturday after uncertainty over the return of the pictures following the close of the record-breaking exhibition.

A source close to the issue, who asked not to be named, told AFP that the first picture is a self portrait by Russian artist Pyotr Konchalovsky owned by the Russian oligarch Petr Aven.

READ ALSO: France seizes two yachts owned by Russian oligarch

Aven, a billionaire financier and banker, is seen as close to President Vladimir Putin and is the target of Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

This painting “will remain in France so long as its owner.. remains targeted by an asset freeze,” the ministry said in its official statement.

The second picture, a painting of Margarita Morozova by the Russian painter Valentin Serov belongs to the Fine Arts museum in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro and will stay in France “until the situation in the country allows its return in security,” said the ministry.

It emphasised that this was “at the request of the Ukrainian authorities”. Meanwhile, France is currently assessing the situation concerning a third picture owned by a private foundation linked to another Russian oligarch who is being added to the sanctions list, the ministry said.

The source added to AFP that this picture is owned by the Magma foundation linked to Viatcheslav Kantor. He is already targeted by UK sanctions over his shareholding in a fertilizer company.

The exhibition was on show at the Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris from late September until April 3.

It is now being dismantled and the some 200 pictures returned to the museums in Russia where most of them are usually kept.

The highlights of the collection include works by Impressionists and other European masters rarely shown abroad, as well as great works of Russian art.

Most of the Morozov collection is now held by the Tretyakov and Pushkin museums in Moscow and the State Hermitage museum in Saint Petersburg rather than by private collectors.

READ ALSO: Meet the British couple hosting Ukrainians in northern France

But there have been concerns about the return of the pictures, which is set to take place by land rather than air due to the current restrictions on air travel between Europe and Russia.

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CULTURE

Why is the Mona Lisa so famous (and why is it even in France)?

Being lauded as either the greatest artwork in the world or the most overrated tourist attraction in France, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa does not struggle to get attention. But why is this small portrait so famous?

Published: 17 May 2024 17:47 CEST
Why is the Mona Lisa so famous (and why is it even in France)?

Paris’ Louvre museum has recently announced that the Mona Lisa painting is to get its own room, a move that is at least partly in reaction to increasing complaints about the artwork being overrated, while tourists struggle to see it in the small, crowded space.

There aren’t many paintings that get a room of their own, so just what is it about Mona Lisa (or La Joconde as she is known in France) that attracts so many millions of tourists each year – and should you bother going to see her?

Why is it in France?

Let’s start with why the painting is in France in the first place, since both painter and subject are Italian (although Italy at that time was still a collection of city states which would not be unified into the modern country until 1861). 

In short, Mona Lisa is in France because her creator Leonardo da Vinci travelled with her, and he was in France when he died in 1519. The reason that he was in France is that he spent the last years of his life working on special commissions for king François I. He died at the Château du Clos Lucé in Amboise, in France’s Loire Valley. 

Upon his death Mona Lisa was taken into the French royal collection and various descendants of François I hung her in their palaces until the French Revolution happened in 1793.

After the Revolution, with the exception of a brief stint in Napoleon’s palace, the painting entered the collection of the newly-created Louvre gallery which – in the spirit of revolutionary equality – was opened up to the people so that they too could enjoy great art.

Various requests over the years – some polite, others less so – from Italy to return the painting have been firmly declined by the French state. 

When did it get famous?

In the 18th and 19th centuries Leonardo’s painting was a popular exhibit among museum visitors, but didn’t have any particular fame and wasn’t regarded as any more special than the numerous other artworks exhibited there.

Although some academic interest in the painting’s subject – most commonly thought to be Lisa Gherardini, wife of the Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo – stirred in the 19th century, her real fame didn’t arrive until 1911.

This is when the painting was stolen from the Louvre, a crime that became a sensation and a cause celèbre in France, even more so when the painting was finally found in 1913 after the thief had attempted to sell it in Italy.

The fame of the painting and the crime inspired contemporary artists such as Marcel Duchamp who created a playful reproduction of Mona Lisa (complete with beard and moustache) which in turn enhanced the painting’s recognition. The artistic trend continued with everyone from Andy Warhol to the ubiquitous student posters of Mona Lisa smoking a joint.

Former chairman of the French Communist Party Robert Hue views moustachioed Mona Lisa by dadaist painter Marcel Duchamp, lent out by his party for the first time for an exhibition in January 2002. Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP

A tour of the painting to the US in 1963 and to Japan in 1974 further enhanced the celebrity status.

21st century

These days it’s perhaps accurate to say that the painting is simply famous because it’s famous. As the best-known piece of art in the world it’s automatically on many tourists’ ‘must see’ list when they come to Paris – and a lot of tourists come to Paris (roughly 44 million per year).

Meanwhile the Louvre is the most-visited museum in the world, attracting roughly 9 million visitors a year.

Although some visitors find the painting itself disappointing (it’s very small, just 77cm by 53cm) the most common complaint is that the room is too crowded – many people report that it’s so jammed with visitors that it’s hard to even see the picture never mind spend time contemplating the artwork.

Should I go and see it?

It really depends on what you like – if your taste in art is firmly in the more modern camp then you probably won’t find that this painting particularly speaks to you. You will, however, find a lot in Paris that is much more to your taste, running from the Musée d’Orsay (mostly art created between 1848 and 1914) to the Pompidou Centre (featuring contemporary and experimental art) and much, much more.

If, however, Renaissance art is your bag then you’ll struggle to find a finer example of it than Mona Lisa, with her beautiful brushwork, detailed and intriguing background and realistic presentation.

If you do decide to visit, then be prepared for the gallery to be crowded – the Louvre now operates on a pre-booking basis but even having a pre-booked ticket won’t save you from the crowds.

If possible try to avoid the summer and school holidays and prioritise weekdays over weekends – the early morning or late evening slots tend to be a little quieter than others, but you’re going to have to be prepared to share her with many other art-lovers.

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