Rostropovich art collection returns to Russia
Published 01 October, 2007, 18:05
The art collection of celebrated cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, bought by Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov, is to find its permanent home in a palace in St. Petersburg.
A unique collection of antique furniture and porcelain, rare works of world-famous artists like Nikolay Rerikh, Ilya Repin and Boris Grigoryev, adding up to a total of 450 items, have finally found a residence.
From New Year they'll be on display at the recently restored eighteenth-century Konstantin Palace in Saint Petersburg.
“The Konstantin Palace is one of the most wonderful palaces in St. Petersburg. Moreover, it did not have its own collection. Now it has.” said the man who paid for the collection, Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov.
The Russian art works were collected by Mstislav Rostropovich, one of the finest cellists of the 20th century, and his wife, acclaimed soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, after they were forced to leave Russia for sheltering a dissident writer 33 years ago.
Vishnevskaya put the items up for sale after her husband died in April this year.
Russian billionaire Usmanov bought the collection in September for $US 72 million just a day before it was due to be sold at Sotheby's. The auction was cancelled at the last minute when Usmanov stepped in to buy the entire collection.
“I want to return it to the country where it belongs, so I've donated it to the state” says Mr Usmanov.
The offer is not the first of its kind made by Mr Usmanov. Just weeks ago he paid an estimated $US 3 million for the rights to a collection of classic Soviet-era cartoons, which he donated to a new state children's TV channel.
“We wanted to recommend Mr Usmanov for a decoration similar to the kind awarded in the Tsar's Russia, a decoration for art patronage. But being a very modest man he refused.” said the Head of the Federal Agency for Culture, Mikhail Shvydkoy.
Mr Usmanov is also known as Arsenal's 2nd largest shareholder. A day after he bought the Rostropovich collection, Alisher Usmanov increased his stake in The English Football Club to 21%.
Mr Usmanov's gift to the state is not unprecedented. Another tycoon, Viktor Vekselberg, paid about $US 90 million in 2004 to have the Faberge eggs returned to Russia, and $1 million to bring back the historic church bells from Harvard University to the Danilov monastery in Moscow this summer.
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