The Moscow City Court granted the prosecutor's office's claim for Roerich's paintings

On March 3, the Izmailovsky Court of Moscow granted the prosecutor's office's claim for recognition of the state's ownership of 272 works of art belonging to the International Center of the Roerichs (ICR). This is reported by a correspondent of Izvestia from the courtroom.

Among them are paintings and drawings by artists Nicholas and Svyatoslav Roerich, as well as items from the memorial fund.

In the arguments between the parties, the prosecutor's office demanded that the paintings be transferred to state ownership so that they would become public. The defendant's side objected that this is exactly what the museum has been doing throughout its existence: it holds exhibitions, exports paintings to foreign expositions. The defendants said they would appeal the verdict.

As it became known during the trial, the paintings had previously been seized as part of the criminal prosecution of Boris Bulochnik, the former chairman of the board of Master Bank. After his sentencing in absentia, the court found that the Baker had purchased paintings for the International Center of the Roerichs NGO with the money of depositors, which he had obtained through criminal means.

The Ostankino Court of Moscow recognized the paintings as ownerless property and transferred them to state ownership on July 2, 2025. The international non-governmental organization International Center of the Roerichs disagreed with the court's decision and indicated in the appeal that the center was the owner of the paintings, but was not involved in the case in the court of first instance. The Moscow City Court overturned the decision of the Ostankino court, leaving the application without consideration.

Exchangeable paintings: which masterpieces the State Museum of Fine Arts gave to the Tretyakov Gallery for Chagall

The Matisse and Picasso exhibition is integrated into the permanent exhibition on Krymsky Val

On March 1, the Moscow Auction House held the Important Spring Sale, where works worth a total of 1 billion rubles were presented. One of the lots was Isaac Levitan's landscape "Moonrise. The village." The painting belonged to the Soviet scientist, inventor of radio-controlled mines Vladimir Mitkevich, and was twice exhibited at the Tretyakov Gallery, as well as at the Russian Museum. Other significant lots include "Moonlit Night in Crimea" by Ivan Aivazovsky and "Behind the Sewing" by Valentin Serov.

Works by Ivan Shishkin, Viktor Vasnetsov, Vasily Polenov and others were also announced among the lots.

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