Finland returns $46 million of detained artwork to Russia
The Finnish foreign ministry has announced that Finland will return three shipments of art bound for Russia that had been confiscated by customs officials.
The sculptures and paints, which are worth a collective $46 million, were seized at the Vaalimaa border crossing on suspicion of violating European sanctions on Russia, according to Customs Enforcement Director Hannu Sinkkonen.
The works, which originated in Italy and Japan, were destined for various museums in Russia when they were confiscated.
Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs released a statement saying that the European Union amended its existing rules to exempt certain cultural artefacts from its list of sanctions.
The rule change extends only to “cultural goods which are on loan in the context of formal cultural cooperation,” the statement said, without further elaboration on its motivation for the exemption.
Many of the confiscated works were on loan from Russia’s State Tretyakov Gallery and the State Museum of Oriental Art for temporary exhibits at two Italian galleries.
Other artworks were returned to Moscow’s Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts from Chiba City Museum in Tokyo.
Following the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been hit with severe sanctions from the European Union, which originally included “luxury items” such as art.
France has also been halted by the sanctions, with several French art galleries and museums showcasing on-loan Russian works.
France’s Ministry of Culture announced that at least two paintings on display at Paris’ Fondation Louis Vuitton in a blockbuster exhibition of works from the collection of Ivan Morozov, a deceased Russian businessman and collector of avant-garde French art, will remain in France.
The ministry said that paintings will not return to Russia “so long as their owner remain targeted by an asset freeze.”
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