Russian art at billionaire Arnault’s foundation set for return

MASTERPIECES from Russian museums that were featured in an exhibition at billionaire Bernard Arnault’s art foundation in Paris are on track to be returned to their original venues.

Russia had been concerned about the risks of getting them safely back home because of complications from transportation links being cut off following the country’s attack on Ukraine.

But the pieces, presented in the so-called Morozov exhibition that ended on Sunday, are being taken down from the

Fondation Louis Vuitton walls and will be returned as agreed to their original museums, a spokesperson for the foundation said Monday, adding that their return is imminent.

Plans for returning the masterpieces come as the European Union condemns Russia for atrocities by its military in several Ukrainian towns, saying that the bloc will ‘as a matter of urgency’ work on additional sanctions against Moscow. French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier Monday there were clear signs of war crimes in Bucha, a town on the outskirts of Kyiv.

French officials said last month that the paintings wouldn’t be seized because France abides by international law on the protection of artworks and will do everything possible to get them back to Russia. The French president’s office and culture ministry declined to comment on Monday.

The Morozov collection comes essentially from the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, but other institutions in the Russian capital, Minsk, Belarus and

Ukraine have also sent pieces. The spokesperson declined to comment on how art loaned by Ukraine would be returned.

One of the masterpieces — ‘Pyotr Konchalovski — Selfportrait’ — is part of the personal collection of Petr Aven, a Russian oligarch who’s on the EU’s sanctions list, Agence France-Presse reported. Spokespeople for the Russian embassy and the Fondation declined to comment on how that case would be dealt with.

The exhibition, which opened Sept. 22, featured around 200 artworks valued at at least $1.5 billion. The masterpieces included “The Prison Courtyard” by Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso’s “Acrobat with a Ball.” Last month, the Fondation Louis Vuitton said the pieces would be returned after the exhibition’s end provided geopolitical and governmental conditions allowed it. LVMH, the luxury group controlled by Arnault, didn’t immediately reply to a request for a comment on Monday.

Alexander Makogonov, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Paris confirmed that the return of the collection is moving forward as planned, but stressed that the embassy is not involved in the logistics. “All indications are rather positive,” he added.

Asked about how the collection will make it to Russia, Makogonov said it will be shipped “through the safest route,” refraining from providing further details. The issue is too sensitive, he added. The Russian ambassador in Paris last month signaled there were logistical problems for the return of the pieces because flight links between France and Russia have been cut off.