An exhibition of Morozov’s collections at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris will open on September 22 and run until February. According to adviser Bernard Arnault, it was possible to organize it thanks to the consent of Vladimir Putin in 2016.
The exhibition of paintings from the collection of the brothers Mikhail and Ivan Morozov, which will open in Paris in September, was organized thanks to the help of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This was reported to Bloomberg by Jean-Paul Claverie, adviser to the French billionaire, president of the LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) group of companies, Bernard Arnault.
In November 2016, Arnault and Claverie came to Moscow to thank Putin for helping to organize the Masterpieces of New Art exhibition from the collection of the early 20th century patron Sergei Shchukin, the Kremlin press service reported. The exposition consisted of works by Claude Monet, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin, Paul Cézanne and others – more than 100 paintings in total. The co-organizers were the State Hermitage Museum, the State Museum of Fine Arts named after V.I. Pushkin and the Tretyakov Gallery.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Claverie said that Putin had given permission to export the paintings from Russia, Arnault’s advisor called it “a gift not only to France, but also to Europe and the world.”
Putin awarded the head of Louis Vuitton with the Pushkin Medal
According to Claverie, at the same time he and Arnault turned to Putin with a request to allow another show in Paris – this time from the collection of Mikhail Morozov (1870-1903) and Ivan Morozov (1871-1921). “If you say yes, we will do another exhibition.” Putin, he said, considered the request and agreed. After that, Arnault’s advisor contacted his colleagues from Russian museums and told them: “Your president allowed us to bring the Morozov collection to Paris, now we must start working on it.”
The exhibition will take place at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris from 22 September to 22 February 2022. It will feature about 200 paintings, including works by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Mikhail Vrubel, Kazimir Malevich, Ilya Repin, Valentin Serov and other painters.
According to Claverie, many of the pieces needed restoration because they were in poor condition and could have been damaged even more if they were taken out of the country. New protective glasses were also made for the canvases. Claverie declined to specify how much the work cost LVMH. However, he admitted that “it is expensive due to insurance, shipping and restoration.” Bloomberg writes that we are talking about millions of euros.
“Attendance is important to us,” said a spokesman for Arnault. According to him, 1.3 million people attended the show of works from the Shchukin collection. He expressed the hope that at the exhibition of paintings from the collection of Morozovs there will be no fewer visitors.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bernard Arnault’s fortune is $ 159 billion. He is ranked third in the ranking of the richest people in the world.
Photo: Vladimir Putin (Photo: kremlin.ru)
