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Belated Recognition

Until recently, art collectors, especially those who made a name for themselves 100 to 200 years ago, were not regarded with much favor in Russia. Their social origin was a major impediment to their recognition. The only exception was made for Pavel Tretyakov: He collected works by social-realists - the Itinerants, giving his collection to Moscow. The noblemen Yusupov, Rumyantsev, and Golitsyn, and the industrialists Morozovs, Shchukins, and Ryabushinskys were admired only within a narrowly circumscribed circle of experts.

The last-mentioned include Natalya Semenova, who, back in 1988, co-authored with Aleksandra Demskaya, a veteran research associate at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (GMII), a book about Sergei Shchukin and his brothers. It was not published until 1993. In 2002 Trilistnik publishers brought out Semenovas second book about Sergei Shchukin, which provides the first full catalogue of his collection.

She started gathering material at a time when almost everyone who had known Shchukin or had been to his gallery were deceased. Nonetheless, in 1990, she met with Sergei Shchukins grandson, Andre-Marc Deloque-Fourcaud, who had come to Moscow from Paris for the sole purpose of finding out about the life of his granddad whom he had never met because he was born long after his death. Natalya Semenova recalls him listening to her story about his grandfather for several hours, open-eyed, as they sat at the TsDL restaurant. "It turned out that he did not have a very good idea about the real value of the collection," she says. "He only knew that Sergei Shchukin had an excellent collection, above all, of Picasso works. But members of Andres family did not understand Picasso, treating the artist very much as he was treated in Shchukins time, when Moscows artistic community considered him extravagant, thus scorning him."

Later, when Semenova went to France, Matisses grandson gave her all of the letters and telegrams that Sergei Shchukin had written to his favorite artist, while Andre Deloque-Fourcaud introduced her to his mother, Irina Sergeevna, Shchukins youngest daughter. Irina Sergeevna, who at the time was living near Grasse on Cote dAzur, helped put Sergei Shchukins collection, as well as the collectors personality itself, on the publics radar screen.

Troublesome Heirs

Her parents took Irina Sergeevna out of Russia in 1918, at the age of three. Just as the majority of people from the first wave of Russian emigration, she had a strong dislike of Soviet power, which she demonstrated as soon as an opportunity turned up. In 1954, Soviet authorities allowed the Shchukin collection to be displayed at the House of French Thought in Paris. The heiress sued to have it impounded. The court rejected her claim while the collection was returned to Moscow as a matter of urgency. The collection was shown again in 1993, at the Centre Pompidou, in Paris. Then, Shchukins daughter wrote a letter to President Boris Yeltsin. She agreed that her fathers collection should stay in Russia, insisting, however, that Russia repeal the "criminal" nationalization decree as a precondition for the Shchukin familys handing over the collection. The feisty heiress was also unhappy with the fact that the collection had been divided up between the Hermitage and the GMII while the paintings were shown to the public without any mention of their origin. "Should the authorities refuse to open negotiations on these terms," Irina Sergeevna wrote in conclusion, "every time that any item from the Shchukin collection is exhibited in a country whose laws do not recognize seizure of private property without restitution, I will immediately sue and demand the return of my property."

The French citizen never received an official reply from Russia so she took the matter to court, losing again.

Soon after, Irina Shchukin died, but her son took up her cause. As soon as works from the Sergei Shchukin collection were displayed anywhere outside Russia he filed lawsuits, demanding compensation. Nonetheless, his claims went nowhere. The fact is, before sending any collection abroad today, Russian museums secure safety guarantees from the countries where they are going to be exhibited. Even so, they were unable to stop the media from having a field day discussing the French grandsons claims. Museum curators were irked: While the hue and cry raised by the media helped promote the exhibitions, it also gave them a rather unsavory taste.

What, then, compelled M. Deloque-Fourcaud - who until recently gave the GMII and the Hermitage the jitters wherever they took their best and most "lucrative" collections abroad - to come to Moscow and present the GMII with the paintings that his granddad acquired when he was already in emigration? Does this mean that Sergei Shchukins heirs have waived their claims?

A Matter of Principle

According to the French guest, he still disagrees with the Soviet mechanism of alienating private property. He presented his considerations on the issue in a letter to President Putin but has not as yet sent it. Asked what it is all about, he only observed that the President will be the first to find out. He added, however, that it contains the phrase "legitimize the stealing of beauty."

As far as Russian museums are concerned, his family has never had any complaints against them:

"They saved the Shchukin collection from ruin. I for one am director of the Museum of Animation in Angouleme and I greatly admire and respect the job that your museums are doing. When Ms. Antonova wrote to me saying that her museum [GMII] was going to mark Sergei Shchukins 150th birthday anniversary, I was moved and decided that I must give the last six paintings that we had from granddads collection to Moscow. These are four works by Henri Le Fauconnier and two by Raoul Duffy. According to my mothers will, they belong not only to me but also to my daughter. I immediately phoned her. She had no objections.

"After World War II, our family had to sell several large Duffy canvases, but today it would be indecent for us to trade in the paintings, especially considering that both my mother and I have always insisted that this unique collection must be all in one piece. Moreover, Sergei Ivanovich [Shchukin] himself always believed that it should stay in Russia. I think that he would have approved of our decision."

Another unresolved problem is Sergei Shchukins former house in Znamensky Pereulok, which is now used by the RF Defense Ministry.

"I tried to visit it," Andre Deloque-Fourcaud says, "but it was all of no avail. Soviet authorities nationalized it supposedly for the people, but people are not being allowed inside! Wheres the logic? In addition, the house is a historical landmark. It must be opened to the public. The Russian army, which, I am sure, has plenty of real estate as it is, could easily transfer the house to Irina Aleksandrovna Antonova for her museum campus."

Paying Tribute to the Shchukins

The GMIIs permanent exposition includes 60 works from the Shchukin collection. During the celebration of Sergei Shchukins 150th birthday, it is also showing the 30 items that have been sitting in the vaults - for the most part, Shchukins first acquisitions. These include works by Briton James Paterson, Norwegian Frits Thaulow, and German Max Liebermann.

The jubilee program comprised a scientific conference devoted to Sergei Shchukins collecting and enlightening activities. M. Deloque-Fourcaud made a presentation, titled The Mystery of Shchukins Artistic Intuition. In it, he sought to figure out how a Moscow industrialist had become one of the first people to appreciate the power and talent of Picasso and Matisse.

In 2005, the GMII is planning to pay tribute to the Shchukin collectors, in particular showing Watteau, Boucher, and Robert paintings that once belonged to Dmitry Shchukin. Furthermore, next year, the Russian History Museum is planning to hold an exhibition of ethnographic rarities from Petr Shchukins collection - from ancient Russian icons, books and medals to samovars, carpets, crockery and jewelry.

By Tatyana Andriasova The Moscow News

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