Usmanov transfers hals to the Plane

Today, November 21, in the State Museum of Fine Arts. Pushkin (Physician) will take place a solemn transfer to the museum of the painting “Evangelist Mark” France Hals, acquired by entrepreneur Alisher Usmanov.

Experts call this the most impressive admission to the museum’s collection over the past 80 years. “The inclusion of the picture of France Hals in the exposition, no doubt, will raise the meeting of the museum’s art gallery to a new level,” said Mlime President Irina Antonova.

The Evangelist Mark has a very interesting, almost detective story. Hals wrote a series of four portraits of evangelists in the 1920s of the XVII century. In 1773, Catherine the Great bought all four canvases for the imperial Hermitage, and by order of Alexander I the paintings were sent to the Crimea for the decoration of local churches.

After that, their paths diverged: “Saint Luke” and “Holy Matthew” ended up in the Odessa Museum, “St. John”-in the Los Angelos Museum, and most of all adventures fell to the share of “St. Mark”.

For a long time the picture was considered lost, then it was found in a private collection in Italy, migrated to Germany and again “disappeared”. Moreover, the work of Halsa appeared under a different name and with a different name, was partially sketched. Huge efforts were worth not only “identifying” the picture, attribute it, restore, but also to find the canvas in private collections of Europe.

This was done by the director of the Volkhonka Art Project gallery Alexei Volobaev thanks to his extensive ties with foreign galleries and collectors. For the first time after the XVIII century, the picture was brought to Russia in April 2013 to participate in the Russian Fair of Antique Art organized by Volkhonka Art Project .

Irina Antonova visited the fair. She became interested in the picture, and Alisher Usmanov and his charity fund “Art, Science and Sport” acquired it as a gift to the museum.

Since November 21, the Evangelist Mark can be seen in the main exposition of the EMMI.