NewsPrivate Museums
Grand opening of Russian billionaire’s power-plant museum is postponed to 2020
GES-2 will be part of Moscow's Museum Mile, linked to Garage, the Tretyakov and the Pushkin
NewsArt theft
Thief of Crimean painting at State Tretyakov Gallery apprehended
Brazen incident raises questions about museum security in Russia
NewsMuseums
Is an art Cold War thaw coming? US and Russian museum leaders and diplomats to discuss loan freeze
Public conversation to be held in February will address long impasse on museum loans
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Moscow residents petition Garage Museum to reject sponsorship from property developer
Activists say PIK Group's high-rise developments are environmentally unsafe and only aimed at making "super profits"
NewsConservation
Restored Soviet apartment listed on Airbnb takes guests back in time to ‘1930s Russian utopia’
The 35m sq. one-bedroom flat has been carefully renovated to include avant-garde furniture and design
NewsTechnology
Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery develops blockchain app to bring Russian art to the world
Digital initiative will invite users to explore and sponsor more than 190,000 works in the collection
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Staff at State Russian Museum take legal action to halt renovation
Senior employees claim the $17m project threatens the Mikhailovsky Palace building and its collections
NewsPussy Riot
Pussy Riot to receive €37,000 compensation from Russia for human rights violations
European Court of Human Rights ordered payment over treatment of the group in pre-trial detention and treatment in court
NewsRussia
Russian police seize drawings by high school pupils under 'gay propaganda' law
Students’ parents complain and psychologists sent to school after art contest for International Day of Tolerance draws fire from authorities
NewsMonuments
Kant monument splashed with pink paint in Kaliningrad
Defacement may be politically motivated as nationalists see the veneration of the German figure as unpatriotic
NewsPolitics
Mount Athos, the Greek peninsula that is home to 20 monasteries, is under threat after Ukraine wins approval to split from the Russian church
Russian pilgrims can no longer participate in services or sacraments there
NewsExhibitions
Selfie-takers accidentally damage Goya and Dali works in Russia’s Yekaterinburg
A group of women send ‘Bravissimo!’ etching and ‘No’ print crashing to the ground, as one punter only just escapes being crushed
NewsJamal Khashoggi
Russia announces major Kandinsky show in Saudi Arabia amid Khashoggi murder controversy
A small number of works by the Russian avant-garde artist are currently at “Davos in the Desert” conference to act as teaser for future exhibition
NewsExhibitions
Citing 'rapidly developing' ties, Russian fund will take art exhibition to Saudi Arabia
Announcement comes as evidence mounts in slaying of the dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi
NewsArchitecture
New Russian cathedral to feature frescoes celebrating armed forces
Church is latest example of symbiosis between church and military patriotism
NewsMuseums
Russian authorities force Gulag museum to close
Volunteer-run organisation has been based in former Soviet secret police headquarters for the past decade
NewsPussy Riot
Pussy Riot protester Pyotr Verzilov ‘was probably poisoned’, doctors say
Medics in Berlin have not identified substance but are confident Russian will recover
NewsProtest
French court releases Russian protest artist Pyotr Pavlensky from pre-trial detention
Femen activists showed their support outside the courthouse by sewing their lips shut in a recreation of his first performance
NewsPolitics
Pussy Riot supporter Pyotr Verzilov in critical condition after suspected poisoning
Activist who was recently imprisoned for Russian group's World Cup protest in July "lost his vision, speech and ability to walk"
NewsLeonardo da Vinci
‘Genuine’ Leonardo ‘sold’ for €72m on classified ads site Avito
The seller says that the painting, titled A Young Girl in Furs, was authenticated by the Stockholm art valuation firm Atelje Catellani
NewsArt market
Russia and Qatar cosy up at Cosmoscow as tensions continue in the Gulf
Moscow contemporary art fair features first Qatari contemporary art exhibition in Russia as the two countries try to foster cultural ties
NewsState Hermitage Museum
Putin demands ramping-up of cultural hub in annexed Crimea
State Hermitage Museum and Tretyakov are involved in arts centre in contested region
NewsBanksy
Banksy’s viral post about unauthorised Russian show is a sign of its success, organiser says
The street artist’s Instagram comment that the show has “nothing to do with me” set off an online debate about artists’ rights—which made him LOL
NewsRussia
Russian authorities stop Pussy Riot member from travelling to Edinburgh's Fringe festival
Maria Alyokhina had spent two years in prison for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred”
NewsRussia
Action star Steven Seagal is 'deeply humbled' by his appointment as Russia's special envoy
The actor, who will be working on improving Russian-American relations including culture, was granted a Russian passport by Putin in 2016
BlogIn the frame
Catnapped: abduction of moody moggie Begemot from Moscow museum sparks media frenzy
NewsMuseums
Tretyakov clamps down on ‘illegal’ tours by banning visitors from discussing works of art
Ordinary groups are being targeted by the gallery’s guards for "exchanging views" about paintings in fight against bogus guides
NewsDisasters & destruction
Syrian museums seek Russian expertise to restore destroyed Palmyra sculptures
Ancient city occupied by Islamic State was retaken by Syrian army with Russian support in 2017
NewsRussia
Putin praises Moscow's urban development in wake of World Cup success
But Russian president's remarks at eighth Moscow Urban Forum angered preservationists
NewsRussia
Pussy Riot say they invaded pitch during World Cup final as political protest
Russian activist group describes performance as a tribute to dissident poet and artist Dmitri Prigov
NewsPrivate Museums
Moscow's Garage Museum still going strong at ten, despite co-founders’ split
Roman Abramovich and Dasha Zhukova will continue to fund their contemporary art museum
NewsPolitics
Founder of Museum of Russian Impressionism flees for the UK
Boris Mints’s institution says that exhibitions are continuing to run
NewsWorld Cup
Moscow erases legal graffiti to allow for World Cup advertising
Authorised works have been targeted alongside illegal ones
NewsConservation
Russia opens new exhibition centre dedicated to icons
The Grabar Art Conservation Center has launched the Ovchinnikov Ikonoteka space, which is named in honour of renowned restorer
NewsConservation
Pharmaceutical company pledges to restore beauty at the Hermitage
The Hungarian firm Gedeon Richter to fund three-year project to restore works from the Russian museum that relate to the concept of female beauty
NewsMuseums
Siberian museum memorialises the Romanovs in house where they were imprisoned
Museum of the Family of Emperor Nicholas II in Tobolsk is Russia's first devoted to 'royal martyrs'
NewsRussia
Russian government urges museums to give discounts to World Cup visitors
Football fans get free entry at Tretyakov, but no special treatment at Hermitage
PreviewExhibitions
Juergen Teller tackles football’s highs and lows in Moscow show
Exhibition at Garage Museum includes stalker-like snaps of Pep Guardiola and live work charting Germany’s World Cup success—or failure
NewsArt market
Are Sergei Skripal sanctions hitting Russian buying and selling at UK auctions?
Hostile relations between Russia and the West following attempted poisoning of former MI6 spy may dampen bidding at London's Russian sales
NewsRussia
Famous Russian painting of Ivan the Terrible vandalised in Moscow
Man who confessed to being drunk on vodka tore painting in three places on Friday evening
NewsPhilanthropy
Russian billionaire’s Peri Foundation will keep paying for culture after arrest
It is business as usual, says the organisation’s director, as its founder, Ziyavudin Magomedov, remains in custody awaiting trial on racketeering charges
NewsConservation
Caucasus government plans to beef up heritage laws to protect Medieval towers
The Russian republic of Ingushetia is hoping that improved conservation will lead to Unesco status
NewsVenice Architecture Biennale 2018
Russian minister issues Venice Architecture Biennale warning
Country's pavilion may be targeted as relations with the West deteriorate, Vladimir Aristarkhov says
NewsMuseums
Moscow museum opens archives of Stalin's Gulag labour camps
New research centre helps descendants discover fate of their family members
InterviewArtist interview
Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: The desire for paradise
Emilia Kabakov discusses the duo’s past in the USSR and their aim to stop it defining how they are perceived as artists
NewsMuseums
Pushkin director turns her office into a surreal art installation
The lower level resembles Hogwarts, upstairs is a blindingly white “meditative space”
NewsPolitics
Palmyra, ancient city or deadly missile? In Russian vote, it was almost both
In an online competition devoid of irony, the archaeological site threatened by destruction was a strong contender for the name of Putin’s new weapon
NewsPolitics
Russian art world reacts to Putin's landslide win in presidential election
Fourth term comes amid escalating tension between Russia and UK, resulting in expulsion of British Council from the country
NewsArt market
Drawings week hits Paris
The 27th edition of Salon du Dessin at Palais Brongniart assembles 39 dealers from Europe and the US
NewsArt law
New Russian law recognises contemporary art at last
Ultra-rich collectors who run their own museums will benefit from the change
NewsIvory
Regulating Russian ivory trade is a mammoth task
Melting of the permafrost in Yakutia has led to a boom in fossil tusk gathering, causing problems for government and conservationists
NewsBuilding projects
Tretyakov and Rem Koolhaas have designs on Moscow's vast Soviet exhibition space
The Central House of Artists is set to be the largest exhibition venue in Russia
NewsPerformance art
Artist burns Gothic structure made of twigs causing controversy in Russia
Nikolay Polissky's act took place at Nikola-Lenivets event, which is likened to the US Burning Man festival
NewsConservation
Urgent action needed to save Russia’s wooden architecture
Grassroots activists are leading a campaign to preserve the country’s unique, but sadly neglected, built heritage
NewsLaw
Detention extended for Russian performance artist Pyotr Pavlensky who set fire to bank in Paris
The controversial figure has gone on hunger strike in protest at “lack of transparency” over legal process
NewsMuseums
Fashion display at Hermitage storage facility paves the way for textiles study centre
Peter the Great’s tailored justaucorps, Catherine the Great's gown and more on display in St Petersburg
PreviewExhibitions
The Portuguese empire navigates its way to Russia
Moscow show celebrates artistic achievement in Portugal and its colonies during the Age of Discovery
NewsExhibitions
The Hermitage's big Russian Revolution show that nearly didn't happen
Museum in tsars' Winter Palace, symbol of Bolshevik takeover, only decided how to mark 1917 centenary in February
NewsPolitics
Putin backed culture forum in St Petersburg sparks debate over artistic freedoms in Russia
The liberal intelligentsia say the culture sphere is under attack, while officials argue that it is flourishing
NewsMuseums
Mogul and Russian culture ministry vie with museum for prized icon
Curators call on St Petersburg prosecutor to investigate "criminal expropriation" of the artefact
NewsMuseums
Museums move into Moscow's huge Soviet-era fairground
Exhibition complex inspired by world's fairs targets 40 million visitors
NewsArt market
Cosmoscow: Russia’s contemporary art fair survives against odds in an embattled art scene
Strangled by sanctions and escalating tension with the west, the fair’s fifth edition is determined to build bridges with international galleries
CommentAuthentication
When it comes to understanding authenticity, listen to the dealers and the market—not the academics
Display of works purportedly by Russian avant-garde artists fails to meet three key criteria
James Butterwick