On May 29, the Russian Investigative Committee reported on a group of counterfeiters who are counterfeiting works by the famous Soviet-American sculptor Ernst Nezvestny. The only named accused is naval officer Maxim Koshkarev. Some of the fakes would have ended up on exhibit at the Tretyakov Gallery; The Investigative Committee conducted research there. Art critic Sofia Bagdasarova in a text for the Russian art newspaper He said Details of this story: last material Published by BBC Russian Service – Written by Svetlana Reiter and the Bulletin’s Investigations Department. We tell you what has become known from their texts (it’s all still very confusing).
Anna Graham, Ernest Nezvestny’s widow, who lives in New York, told the BBC: She only had to look at the photo of the exhibition in the Tretyakov Gallery to recognize the fakes. Graham contacted Konstantin Ernst, director of Channel One and an old admirer of the unknown. According to gallery owner Lyubov Agafonova, it was Ernst who initiated the exhibition (“Kommersant” initially classified him as a deluded collector, but then clarified that he “does not appear in the case in any capacity”). Ernest Graham promised to look into the matter and asked “not to make a fuss during the exhibition.”
Kommersant’s source, who is familiar with the sculptor’s family, Presumablythat Graham herself may have been involved in making the fakes – and that they were cast using the author’s molds. However, Graham told the BBC that the fake pieces were “of different sizes and very poorly carved”. This was confirmed by another interlocutor of the publication familiar with the situation: he believes that the forgers tried to copy the sculptures themselves, but did not have access to the author’s models.
There is another opinion about fakes. Auctioneer and art examiner Alexander Kiselevsky V Conversations With art newspaper journalist and art critic Sofia Bagdasarova, he spoke of it as being of very high quality. Another source of the art newspaper believes that in Russian conditions it is impossible to achieve such high-quality casting.
Kiselevsky himself confirms that the sculptures, which the investigation described as fake, were verified by “family members.” Opinions on the authenticity of Ernst Neizvestny’s works can be obtained from Anna Graham or Olga Neezvestny, the artist’s daughter from his first marriage, who lives in Russia; There is an old one between them.
As the Art Newspaper wrote, certificates of authenticity for early works are usually issued anonymously, and for later works created in emigration – by Graham, but sometimes they attest to a “foreign” period, and sometimes refuse to recognize authenticity if it is recognized by the other party. Graham insisted in an interview with the BBC that she “has not issued a single certificate to work in Russia.” Olga Nezvestnaya did not speak to the newspaper’s correspondent.
One of the art newspaper’s interlocutors, close to the exhibition team at the Tretyakov Gallery, claims: Although the museum has been inspected, there is so far no evidence that there are actually fakes among the exhibits. The examination is still ongoing.
According to Al-Fan newspaper’s sources, the investigation did not begin with the exhibition or with the unknown; Investigators were initially interested in the person who would later be accused of making and distributing counterfeit products, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Northern Fleet Maxim Koshkarev. He was suspected of involvement in corruption, but an audit revealed his involvement in fraud.
BBC journalists found Koshkarev’s autobiography, where he writes about his passion for numismatics, and advertisements for the purchase of military antiques (including from the “Black Diggers”), which he has been posting for years on various forums. The officer not only bought antique items such as badges, but also sold them. He periodically consulted with visitors to specialized forums about whether the thing he was going to sell was real or not, but when he was convinced of the opposite, he did not feel embarrassed. “Black PR or white PR, it doesn’t matter,” Koshkarev wrote in one of the forums. “The main thing is that the goal is achieved.”