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Irina Antonova, the director of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts
The Museum was first created as a University museum with didactic materials for students.
It was created on the basis of a collection of copies of ancient, medieval and Renaissance sculpture,
and it was not conceived as a museum of originals.
But the founder of the museum, Ivan Tsvetaev, a very sagacious person,
realized on the very dawn of the museumís existence, even when the building wasnít yet ready,
that it would develop as a museum of originals.
In the early 20th century, before the opening of the museum,
a gift of Italian and Cretan icons was made to the museum, and Tsvetaev accepted it with delight.
The gift was made by a certain Shchekin, the Russian consul in Trieste.
So the founder of the museum used to say that the painting came to the museum by itself.
He meant that the museum was supposed to exhibit only sculpture, but still the painting appeared.
Then there was the opportunity to obtain a collection of high-class ancient Egyptian sculpture.
The collection was created by Professor Golenishchev, an outstanding person and scholar.
By the way, he was the founder of the Chair of Egyptology at Cairo University,
so he was a scholar of great authority.
And so his outstanding collections of high-class chef-d'oeuvres was also given to our museum,
even though not without a struggle and great efforts on the part of Tsvetayev to get it.
And then everything changed after the Revolution.
They decided to make a World Artistic Cultural Museum in Moscow,
and on the basis of revolutionary laws, such as nationalization of private collections
and the new practice of dividing already-existing collections and sending parts to different museums,
our Museum of Fine Arts got its painting department.
Then there was a political event: in 1948, on Stalinís orders,
the Moscow Museum of Contemporary Western Art was closed.
And it was such a unique museum in Moscow.
It appeared in 1923 on the basis of two absolutely phenomenal collections of Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov.
They used to collect pictures that even the Louvre wouldnít take at the time.
The Louvre refused to accept Gustave Caillebotteís collection of impressionists and post-impressionists.
But those two merchants from Moscow started collecting those pictures.
The collections were nationalized in 1918, and as a result this museum was created in 1923.
I would like to stress that this was the first museum of modern art in the world,
as the New York Museum of Modern Art was opened only in 1928.
The collection of that museum was divided into two parts;
one of them went to the State Hermitage, and the other ñ to our museum.
And that is how our most important collections were formed.
I mean, the formation is ongoing, but we got all our world-class masterpieces in that era.
But still, one of the most unique exhibitions held by your museum was the ëone picture exhibitioní,
the display of the legendary La Joconde in 1974.
Please, tell us how hard it was to get this picture to come to the USSR?
Itís true that the legendary Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci was demonstrated in Moscow in 1974,
and it was a great joy for everyone.
During its display ñ from June 14 to July 28, - a queue was always standing in front of the museum.
Those who couldnít get there in the evening stayed all night to see it in the morning.
And, due to the limited term of the exhibition, no one could spend much time in front of the painting,
it was like a slow procession passing by the picture.
And I remember that people who left the exhibition hall
didnít turn their backs on the picture but backed away in order to keep the picture in their sight
for as long as possible.
And of course Iíll never forget how the picture got to the museum.
We escorted it from the airdrome with all due caution and security,
but our main task was to ensure its absolute preservation.
Everything had to be ideal.
We developed a special showcase and ordered 6 big glass sheets apart from the one that was already there.
So you can imagine when it all arrived at 12 oíclock at nightÖ
The picture was already taken from its container and put in its place, and we had to install the glass.
The first one cracked, even though weíd made a special order and it was brought to us from Ukraine,
then the second one crackedÖ
Well, after 4 pains of glass cracked,
one of the Ministry representatives said that he couldnít bear it and that he was leaving.
But my nerves had to be iron-hard.
Then the 5th glass cracked,
but the 6th remained intact and it protected the picture throughout the exhibition.
We took every possible precaution, including with the alarm,
and an armed detachment was on watch in the neighboring room around the clock.
And there was one incident: one woman threw a rose at the show-case (probably her feelings overwhelmed her),
and of course the alarm went off.
So in a second a group of armed men surrounded the picture.
It was a rather nervous momentÖ
But still the viewers were delighted, no matter how long they had to stand in line,
as it is a truly legendary piece of art.
And there was another thing that made me happy back then: the then director of the museum, Mr Cognam,
had a special device to measure the curvature of the panel
ñ and you know that the Mona Lisa is painted on a panel like an icon,
and the wood has a tendency to change its curvature due to the climate conditions.
So Mr Cognam measured the curve and said the change was microscopic.
And he said that the painting was exhibited in Japan prior to that
(and Iíll note that the picture travelled only to Japan, Moscow and Washington)
and there the changes were more significant.
We were all so happy that we could create the proper conditions!
It was a great excitement for us.
A museum is a sort of memorial to the history of our country.
Could you name the most ëRussianí exhibit of your museum?
And what is the most ëpeacefulí one, and which one is the most ëmilitaryí one?
Well, itís hard to answer that right away,
I would have to think and recall all the exhibitsÖ
Well, if we talk about ëpeacefulí exhibits, we have a lot of Italian and French Madonnas with Child.
It is a symbol of maternal love, of the unity between the mother and her child, of life preservation,
if you wish.
As for the ëmilitaryí exhibits, of course we have battle-scene paintings,
but this topic is better represented by the graphic.
For example, a whole cycle of Goyaís ëDisasters of Warí, a frightening series,
which weíve exhibited more than once.
And what was the other aspect of your question?
The most ëRussianí exhibit.
Well, you know that we are a museum of world art,
so we donít have much of a collection of Russian paintings.
But still, I believe the most ëRussian exhibití
is the portrait of Shalyapin by Korovin from the Zildstein collection.
This portrait creates a truly Russian strong image.
What exhibits that have never been to your museum do you want to get?
Of course there are such paintings.
For example, thereís an Italian artist of the 15th century,
Piero della Francesca, and he painted The Flagellation of Christ.
It is in Italy, in Urbino.
I think it is one of the most outstanding pictures ever created by mankind.
I would very much like to show it in Moscow and I put certain efforts into it.
But for now itís impossible.
Why?
WellÖ Some 20 years ago this masterpiece was stolen.
It disappeared and it was a great tragedy.
When I heard it on TV I even cried.
Then, in my conversation with Italian artist Renato Guttuso, he told me he cried too when he heard of it.
It was a true loss for the world of cultureÖ
But I donít know, maybe itís not because it was stolen.
Maybe itís just so precious that it canít be obtained for now.