Russia

Heir of Soviet Artist Wins Claim to Paintings in Russia's Tretyakov Gallery

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The granddaughter of the Soviet artist Alexander Drevin has won a suit recognizing her right to paintings of the artist stored in Russia's Tretyakov Gallery, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow said on Wednesday.
Sputnik
Ekaterina Drevina filed the lawsuit demanding to establish family ties, acceptance of succession, recognition of rights to the art and ownership, as well as asking the Tretyakov Gallery to convey the paintings to her.
The court upheld the claim in part, recognizing family ties and inheritance, establishing her exclusive rights to the pieces and heirship (the right to receive the sale fee), while rejecting the rest of the claim. The reasoning of the decision is yet to be completed, and when finished, the parties will be able to appeal in Moscow City Court.
Drevin was a Latvian-Russian painter. He was arrested and executed by firing squad in 1938 and posthumously rehabilitated in 1957. During a search before the arrest, Drevin's wife, Nadezhda Udaltsova, saved paintings from confiscation, claiming that she herself drew them.
In 2012, Ekaterina Drevina filed a police claim over "theft" of her grandfather's paintings.
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