Representative from the Russian government supervised the return of icons from Clinton
Friday, March 18, 4 P.M., 2011
Clinton, Massachusetts - Though Russia’s Minister of Culture has issued a “force majeure” ordering the immediate return of 37 paintings and artifacts currently on loan to the Museum of Russian Icons, Founder Gordon B. Lankton and Curator Oxana Smirnova from the Andrey Rublev Museum in Moscow, have slowed the dismantling until tomorrow a.m. Ms. Smirnova has been sent to the United States to the dismantling of the exhibition. An unnamed representative from the Russian government has become currently involved in an ongoing negotiation this afternoon with the representatives from each Museum.
The Treasures from Moscow exhibition was scheduled to remain on view until July 25, 2011. While the Russian Minister of Culture offered no concrete reason for the force majeure, an unrelated ruling on July 30, 2010 by Royce Lamberth, Federal Judge for U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, may offer some insight. Lamberth’s decision upheld the right to seize "all Russian property not covered by diplomatic immunity,” and may have elevated the Russian government’s concern for the possible seizure of the valuable icons.
http://www.museumofrussianicons.org/pdf/MRI-RECALL.pdf
Clinton, Massachusetts - Though Russia’s Minister of Culture has issued a “force majeure” ordering the immediate return of 37 paintings and artifacts currently on loan to the Museum of Russian Icons, Founder Gordon B. Lankton and Curator Oxana Smirnova from the Andrey Rublev Museum in Moscow, have slowed the dismantling until tomorrow a.m. Ms. Smirnova has been sent to the United States to the dismantling of the exhibition. An unnamed representative from the Russian government has become currently involved in an ongoing negotiation this afternoon with the representatives from each Museum.
The Treasures from Moscow exhibition was scheduled to remain on view until July 25, 2011. While the Russian Minister of Culture offered no concrete reason for the force majeure, an unrelated ruling on July 30, 2010 by Royce Lamberth, Federal Judge for U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, may offer some insight. Lamberth’s decision upheld the right to seize "all Russian property not covered by diplomatic immunity,” and may have elevated the Russian government’s concern for the possible seizure of the valuable icons.
http://www.museumofrussianicons.org/pdf/MRI-RECALL.pdf