The owner of Titian's painting, contrary to the agreement, did not sell it to the Pushkin Museum

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

State Museum of Fine Arts named after A. S. Pushkin agreed to buy a painting by Titian with the title "Venus and Adonis", but the current owner of this painting decided to abandon all agreements. And this is despite the fact that the museum provided substantial assistance in the study of this canvas and its restoration. Victoria Markova, who specializes in Italian painting, spoke about this. By the way, it was she who determined that the painting was painted by Titian.

Earlier there was a message that the Pushkin Museum will soon become the owner of the long-suffering canvas. For a long time it was believed that this work is just a worthy copy of the work of a famous artist. The fact that this work of art is an original by Titian became known in 2005, thanks to Markova, who evaluated the canvas at the request of Vladimir Logvinenko, whose collection this painting is included in. Research works have established that the painting is the original. It is worth remembering that the painting "Venus and Adonis" is part of the Prado collection and here they said that their copy is also the original, but only the second version.

During the work to determine the authenticity, Markova found that the canvas was in poor condition and that restoration work should be carried out. The Museum believed that the canvas could end up in the hands of an inexperienced master and would be damaged, so they agreed with the Venetian masters, who are perfectly versed in Titian's technique, so that they would undertake the restoration of the painting. It took the masters two years to do such work, after which the canvas went to Switzerland.

In 2017, the Pushkin Museum decided to take the painting from the owner to participate in the exhibition, on the condition that this painting will remain in the museum collection for two years. At this time, the owner of the valuable canvas offered to sell it to the museum. The museum itself did not raise such a question.

Due to the interest in the canvas, the museum has planned numerous events. In the spring of 2018, a letter was received from the owner of the painting, urgently returning Titian's work to him, to which he was told about plans for the future, in which this painting occupies an important place. Then they managed to get permission to further find this work in the Pushkin Museum. At the same time, the museum was working on finding a sponsor who would buy the canvas from the current owner for $ 20 million. But the last letter says that on December 18, Titian's painting should be sent abroad.