Art and War

Russian Artwork Seized in Finland

A peek inside the boxes

I recently read this article in the Washington Post that sparked my interest on several levels: Art, Finland, International law enforcement, art valuations, the story promised to be a smorgasbord of news right smack in my wheelhouse.

That’s where short-form journalism failed me again.

Finland seizes Russian artwork worth $46 million under sanctions

What a great title, it revives memories of the Winter War while staying relevant to the war in Ukraine. But there was one disappointing aspect to the article which I will remedy.

Shipments of paintings, sculptures, and antiquities worth $46 million to Russia were seized by Finnish Customs at the start of April as part of recent EU sanctions.

My first thought was intercepted smuggling, but no, this story is one more chapter in a longer epic about Russia asking for the return of art loaned to two museums in Milan by The St. Petersburg Hermitage Museum. About 2 dozen works were requested to be returned to The Hermitage Museum from Italy and Japan.

It is not clear to me why the works were requested to be returned. My guess is The Hermitage wanted to reduce the risk of seizure by another state during wartime. It may have been required by the insurance underwriter.

So what’s in the boxes?

It is pure guesswork as to the contents of the boxes but the timing with requests by The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg suggests the works are items being returned from exhibition loans in Italy and Japan.

Most of the works appear to be from the Gallerie di Italia in Milan where the ongoing “Grand Tour. Dream of Italy from Venice to Pompeii” depicts works showing scenes of Italy from a time when the wealthy would take a long vacation on this route to educate and entertain themselves. The paintings were often brought back to other countries as elaborate mementos.

The Palazzo Reale was forced to return two paintings by Titian before the end of their exhibition “Titian and the image of women in 16th century Venice.” The Young woman with a feathered hat was scheduled through June 5th

Other museums have been affected by the art embargo, The National Gallery in London anticipated the loan of The Holy Family (ca. 1506–7) by Raphael. The agreement had to be canceled.

The embargo is a two-way street with France, The UK, Spain, and Austria recalling artwork from Moscow’s Kremlin Museums.