The Kherson Art Museum has identified 103 paintings stolen by Russians forces in 2022. The total number of illegally exported items exceeds 10,000 exhibits.
This was reported by the museum's press service.
In particular, two paintings were recently identified. It is noted that they were "exposed" by Russian propagandists who filmed the story at the Tavrida Central Museum.
Samuil Nevelshteyn (1903-1983). Sketch for the painting "History Lesson". 1965-66. Canvas, oil.
This artist and educator is a representative of the Leningrad School of Painting, but he was born in Kherson. At the age of 20, he left his hometown to pursue art education - first in Moscow, and then in Leningrad, where the artist remained until the end of his life. Samuil Nevelshteyn painted still lifes, landscapes, portraits, including many female and children's figures. In the late 1980s, the museum received a large collection of paintings and graphics from its fellow countryman, most of which were donated to the city by the artist's widow.
"But the Crimean propagandist didn't mention this - she rejoiced that "some paintings reflect the labor and not only the exploits of Soviet citizens" (that is, painted in the style of socialist realism), fantasized about "it's hard for her to imagine what could happen to these paintings in conditions of total decommunization in Ukraine" and justified the looters by calling them "saviors"," report mentioned.
The total count by Kherson Art Museum:
103 — the number of identified works of art stolen by the Russian authorities from the Kherson Art Museum in 2022, with the total number of illegally exported items exceeding 10,000 museum exhibits.
102 — the number of works that are located in occupied Crimea, in the Central Museum of Tavrida in Simferopol.
1 - A piece whose exact location is unknown, but there is confirmation from the Russians that the masterpiece is in their possession.