NewsMuseums
Hermitage museum mints Leonardo, Monet, Van Gogh NFTs to raise funds
The Russian museum had to overcome country's stringent restrictions on cryptocurrencies
NewsConservation & Preservation
Nailed it: Kizhi Pogost church is finally restored on Russian island of remarkable wooden buildings
Newly reopened 18th-century Church of the Transfiguration, topped with 22 domes, is said to have been built without a single nail
NewsOpenings
Siberian city often described as 'most depressing place to live in the world' to receive contemporary art museum
Former mall in Norilsk will provide 8,500 sq. m of space for art
NewsPolitics
Kirill Serebrennikov, film director and ousted arts complex chief, banned from leaving Russia for Cannes
His film Petrov’s Flu has been nominated for the prestigious Palme d’Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival
NewsRussia
Russian artist Yulia Tsvetkova, who faces prison for posting feminist drawings, starts hunger strike
The 27-year-old activist is demanding that her criminal trial be held in public
NewsLitigation
Stand and deliver: the $950m ‘art hostage situation’ involving paintings by Malevich and Goncharova
In a long-running legal battle, the Shchukin Gallery seeks the return of five paintings worth $63m that the gallery says were taken by a Russian financier
Newscoronavirus
Siberian surgeon’s drawings show devastating rise in domestic violence in Russia due to Covid-19 pandemic
Ruslan Mellin turned to art as a refuge from the brutal reality of lockdown and the effects of the virus
AnalysisNFTs
Pussy Riot's weekly NFT drop is just one instance of Russian and Ukrainian artists embracing new modes of online selling
Other creators have been selling works on Clubhouse and dedicated Facebook groups
InterviewArt market
'No one feels ambivalent towards Russia': Jo Vickery on leaving Sotheby's, launching her art advisory and looking beyond politics
Despite its size and power, Russia is a blindspot for the international art market but Vickery wants to change that perception
NewsRussia
Russian culture figures fear new law change will require government approval for museum tours, exhibitions and lectures
Artists and curators says the amendment to the eduction law, which is intended to stop anti-Russia propaganda, will restrict cultural activity
NewsPolitics
Ukrainian art scholar reportedly tortured and imprisoned by Russian forces on ‘absurd’ espionage charges
International Council of Museums committees in Ukraine and Poland appeal for help to secure Olena Pekh's release
NewsRussia
'To all Russian political prisoners': Pussy Riot release new video amid crackdown on pro-Navalny protests
Group faced prison sentence after filming a “punk prayer” against President Putin in 2012 at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
NewsArt market
Russian contemporary art pioneer embarks on $2m project to restore Isaak Levitan's former Moscow studio
Vladimir Ovcharenko won a state tender for the crumbling studio of the 19th century artist and now he must turn it into an art space within seven years
NewsProtest
Pussy Riot members and street artist among thousands detained at Russia's pro-Navalny protests
As demonstrations swept the country last weekend, Tima Radya as well as Masha Alekhina, Victoria Narakhsa, and Lucy Shteyn were held by police
NewsArtists
Hundreds of artists’ studios in Moscow to be bulldozed amid government’s huge renovation plan
Evicted artists say authorities are leaving them out in the cold by failing to provide alternative workshops
NewsArtists
Darya Apakhonchich is first artist labelled 'foreign agent' by new repressive law in Russia
Individuals who receive funding from abroad are subject to strict audits since 30 December
NewsPalmyra
New hope that ancient Palmyra will be rebuilt after Isis damage
Deal between the Syrian government and Russian masonry body builds on country’s research into state of archaeological site
NewsResidencies
The bucolic plague? Artist traces origins of 14th-century pandemic to remote vineyard in southern Russia
New artist residency on the Sea of Azov hosts exhibition on the history of pandemics
NewsObituaries
Irina Antonova, who was director of the Pushkin for over 50 years, has died, aged 98
The art historian began her career at the museum in 1945 under Stalin
NewsAcquisitions
Stedelijk expands collection of socially critical art by acquiring works by Russian activists Yulia Tsvetkova and Anna Tereshkina
Both artists have been detained by Russian authorities
NewsArt market
'A crisis is always a good time to unite': Russian art galleries form new alliance to boost industry
The Association of Galleries aims to simplify the country's customs procedures and secure government funding
Newscoronavirus
Russia sends Moscow’s museums into second lockdown until mid-January
Cultural workers voice frustration at mixed closure orders, as theatres, concert halls and restaurants are allowed to stay open
NewsRussia
US and Russia 'leave aside the politics' to restore Raphael frescoes
A grant of over $100,000 has been given from the US to St Petersburg's State Hermitage Museum for the maintenance of three 16th-century school of Raphael works
NewsRussia
For Putin’s birthday, Pussy Riot hangs rainbow flags on Moscow’s government buildings
The activist performance artists called their actions “a gift as a symbol of the love and freedom that are lacking” for LGBTQ communities in Russia
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Hermitage plans ‘exchange of outstanding and significant exhibits’ with National Museum of Iran
Despite pandemic, Russian and Iranian museum directors met online to discuss future cultural collaborations
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Has Putin’s $1.6bn plan to build new cultural centres throughout Russia hit the rocks?
Foundation running the huge project has cut more than 80% of staff, but construction continues
NewsArt market
Cosmoscow determined to be first major fair to go ahead
Event still plans to run this week and hopes for a less distracted local Russian collector base, starved of international art travels
NewsMoney laundering
Will US Congress finally pass anti-money laundering legislation?
A recent Senate report found that secretive art market enables sanctions circumvention
NewsResidencies
New York-based residency for Russian artists goes ahead as 'East-West divide' intensifies
US-Russia tensions heightened in the run up to November's US presidential election
BlogDiary
Lights, camera, action: films exploring how Bauhaus went stateside and the dominance of Duchamp headline the TAN Russia Film Festival
NewsPolitics
Belarus protest work—painted with a police baton—sells for three million rubles
Contemporary artists in the country are reacting to the crisis after allegations of election fraud and police brutality
NewsHagia Sophia
Russia to fund small-scale replica Hagia Sophia in Syria that will be used as a church
Tactical move comes after Turkish president ordered historic Istanbul site to be turned into a mosque
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Cultural love-in between Italy and Russia sets ‘soft power’ alarm bells ringing
Growing unease as the special relationship between the two countries gains momentum during the Covid-19 crisis
NewsRussia
State Russian Museum staff decry damage to antique picture frames
Petition to museum management raises alarm over frames in "critical condition" from improper storage
NewsMonuments
Signed, sealed, delivered: new monument honours couriers on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic
Unveiled in a business centre in Moscow, the statue by contemporary artist Alexey Garikovich was commissioned by top Russian e-commerce and foodtech companies
NewsMonuments
Russian art collector Andrei Filatov offers to buy America’s problematic statues
His Art Russe Foundation has made offers to preserve monuments of Theodore Roosevelt and Alexander Baranov that have been the target of protesters in the US
NewsRussia
Forty protestors detained for defending Russian activist facing prison for posting art with LGBTQ message
Russia's arts community rallying behind Yulia Tsvetkova whose trial starts in July
NewsRussia
Russian theatre director Kirill Serebrennikov found guilty of fraud and ordered to pay $1.85m in damages to culture ministry
Accused of embezzling funds while staging a contemporary arts festival, Serebrennikov faced six years in prison but was handed a suspended sentence
NewsRussia
Culture crackdown ahead of Putin's referendum
Artist Pyotr Verzilov was sentenced to 15 days in prison for "petty hooliganism" in latest clampdown on the arts in Russia
NewsCensorship
'I have a 1% chance of being acquitted': Russian activist faces six years in prison for posting vagina drawings online
Police say the body-positive images, accompanied by captions like ‘Real women have body fat and it’s normal,’ violate pornography laws
NewsUnesco World Heritage Site
Religious sites in Russia and Ukraine hit hard by coronavirus thanks to pilgrims and poor social distancing
Many Unesco World Heritage sites that are also working monasteries have been accused of reacting slowly to the pandemic
Analysiscoronavirus
Russian museums in crisis: State Hermitage projects losses of almost half its annual revenue after closing for two months
Loss of tourism and oil market crash because of coronavirus pandemic wreak havoc as institutions seek state help
Newscoronavirus
Russia’s culture minister has coronavirus
Appointed in January, Olga Lyubimova is the third Russian government minister to announce a Covid-19 diagnosis in the past week
NewsDiscoveries
Cache of Russian avant-garde works surfaces in regional museum's basement
Art historian Andrey Sarabyanov is planning a new exhibition of forgotten pieces by Kandinsky, Rodchenko and Stepanova
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Moscow’s new GES-2 arts centre delays grand opening to 2021
Coronavirus uncertainty postpones Ragnar Kjartansson exhibition, but power plant museum still aims to welcome locals this year
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Barcelona rejects plans for outpost of Russia’s State Hermitage Museum
Hermitage officials dismayed after city council refuses planning permission for new venue, citing multiple concerns
Newscoronavirus
Coronavirus: Russian museums hit as Chinese tourists stay away
Russia has banned Chinese citizens from entering the country, slashing attendance at cultural institutions in Moscow and St Petersburg
NewsExhibitions
Largest collection of contemporary Indian art heads to Moscow
Several Indian private museums are lending works for an exhibition due to open at the State Tretyakov Gallery
NewsAppointments
Russia's controversial culture minister ousted in Putin's government reshuffle
But Vladimir Medinsky, who has been replaced by Olga Lyubimova, will 'not be left without work' in culture, the Russian President says
NewsCrime
Released but still under investigation: Russian couple embroiled in fraud scandal
Igor and Olga Toporovsky linked to controversial show of Russian avant-garde works in Ghent
NewsPolitics
Russian government quits as Putin rewrites constitution—with the help of key cultural leaders
Directors of the State Hermitage Museum and State Tretyakov Gallery are part of a team enlisted to create laws that will allow the president to remain in power
NewsThe Year in Review 2019
From trafficked treasures to the ravages of climate change: the heritage headlines of 2019
We look back at the biggest stories of the year
NewsRussia
Russian museums follow Putin’s call for satellites in the regions
The Hermitage has opened a branch in Siberia, the Pushkin is renovating a Constructivist landmark in Samara and more agreements are in the works
NewsConservation & Preservation
Looted in Germany by Stalin’s brigades, a restored goddess goes on view at the Hermitage
Bronze sculpture gets new wings in a collaboration with Berlin’s Antikensammlung
NewsMuseum attendance
Influx of millions of Chinese tourists wreaks havoc for Russian museums
Electronic visas pave the way for ever greater visitors numbers, creating major logistical problems at Tsarskoe Selo and the Hermitage
PreviewExhibitions
Was Peter great? Moscow exhibition details tsar’s huge cultural impact
An avid patron of the arts and sciences, the emperor gave Russian society a new perspective on the world and elevated the country’s place within it
NewsPalmyra
Russia and Syria sign agreement to restore ancient city of Palmyra
Collaboration spearheaded by the State Hermitage Museum was made official in Damascus this week
NewsExhibitions
Russia, Germany and France join forces for 'incomparable' travelling show of contemporary European art
Exhibition showing "unique slice" of art from Europe will coincide with the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War
NewsRussia
Moving to the suburbs: vast museum collections centre destined for 'New Moscow'
State Tretyakov Gallery among 23 Russian museums planning to store and show works near former killing field Kommunarka
NewsRussia
Art trove belonging to Russian billionaire fugitive found hidden in village near Moscow
Investigators find paintings and rare books missing from private museum belonging to banker Alexei Ananyev accused of alleged financial crimes
NewsBiennials & festivals
Moscow Biennale opening marred by 2017 controversy
Event’s president Julia Muzikantskaya accused of allegedly threatening artists and withholding payments
NewsGES-2
Russian billionaire's huge Moscow art hub—designed by Renzo Piano—will open in September 2020
Leonid Mikhelson says that the "frightening" cost that he had initially anticipated for the GES-2 complex has doubled
FeatureObituaries
Obituary: Nathalie Brooke, a leading figure in the preservation of Venice
A remarkable cultural ambassador in London's art, political, and musical scene and on return visits to her native Russia. One of the founders of Venice in Peril
NewsExhibitions
Major Kandinsky show opens in Saudi Arabia as Vladimir Putin arrives for rare state visit
Cultural programme of Russian art launches to coincide with president's trip to the Gulf state to sign over $2bn worth of deals
NewsMuseums
Staff quit in droves at Russian museum as ‘starvation wages’ bite
Deputy director’s swingeing salary cuts trigger resignations of around 50 employees at Moscow theatre museum
NewsRussia
Pushkin State Museum to take control of nine contemporary art centres across Russia
Handover from Russian culture ministry is expected to be completed in early 2020
NewsRestitution
Austria promises to return ancient artefacts to Russia that were taken as war trophies
An Austrian army officer took the 2,000-year-old objects from a war-damaged museum in the port of Temryuk at the end of the Second World War
ArchiveArt market
The art market in Moscow is sustained by the new breed of super-rich businessmen—while their wives have opened a string of commercial galleries
“Most contemporary art collectors today are intellectuals who own their own company”
NewsConservation & Preservation
Moscow Kremlin Museums say ‘bravo!’ to restorers
State regalia, Russian icons and decorative pistols go on show in exhibition celebrating the hidden craft of conservation
NewsRussia
Putin grants Russian citizenship to collector Sergei Shchukin’s grandson ahead of blockbuster Pushkin show
André-Marc Delocque-Fourcaud urges Russia to reunite collection in Moscow
NewsState Russian Museum
State Russian Museum refurbishment cancelled amid protests
The renovation threatened the museum's architecture and collection, plaintiffs argued
NewsState Hermitage Museum
St Petersburg's State Hermitage ponders Saudi Arabia satellite museum
The Hermitage will also expand its presence in Crimea with a new cultural centre planned in Sevastopol
NewsConservation & Preservation
Guggenheim launches conservation fellowship with help from Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin
Initiative aims to boost Russian expertise in rapidly developing field of preserving contemporary art
NewsPussy Riot
Pussy Riot member Veronika Nikulshina detained in Moscow on suspected drug charges
It is the second time in a month that the feminist activist has been arrested by police
NewsOpenings
Uzbekistan opens new art centre to boost 'undeveloped' local scene
Moscow's Garage Museum of Contemporary Art is offering curatorial expertise as part of growing network of partnerships with post-Soviet countries
AnalysisMuseums & Heritage
Nineteenth-century realists pull in mega-crowds as Russian museum attendance peaks
Exhibitions in Russia of homegrown artists attract proportionally greater numbers than blockbusters in other countries
News
Russian man strolls through Moscow’s Tretyakov Gallery in thong underwear
The latest bizarre incident at one of Russia’s most important institutions was an “unsanctioned performance” according to the museum
NewsPrizes
Caravaggio in the flesh at The Art Newspaper Russia’s annual prize ceremony
Actors, musicians, dancers and a famous Moscow film director, combined with lighting wizardry, celebrate the Russian art world
NewsBiennials & festivals
Authorities cancel activist youth festival in Russia's Far East
Officials raise concerns that the festival was promoting an LGBT agenda
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Hermitage and Pushkin join forces to show stellar Russian collections of Modern art
The museums are pooling the divided collections of Sergei Shchukin and Morozov brothers for a quartet of exhibitions
NewsLoans
Hermitage and MoMA heads seek end to US-Russian loans freeze
Diplomats hint at future cooperation between the countries at Texas conference
ReviewBooks
Wish you were here: revolutionary postcards in Imperial Russia
Book collects pictorially subversive propaganda in a populist medium
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
NewsPolitics
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 & Preservation
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