Dmitri Stelletsky (1875-1947)

Some of Paul I’s historic diplomatic documents return to Moscow.

Muratov won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021, lauded for his “fight for freedom of expression”. Now he is selling his medal with Heritage Auctions: all proceeds go to UNICEF’s humanitarian relief efforts for children displaced by the war in Ukraine. Online bidding is underway, concluding with a live auction on June 20.

Jihan Wu acquired the facility from Swiss art dealer, Yves Bouvier, who had originally spent $70 million building “Le Freeport.” The purchase comes after Bouvier was entangled in a court feud with Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev. Bouvier, who formerly owned 70% of the freeport, will pocket $3,544,842. (Artforum)

Yesterday, Heritage Auctions sold the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize Medal awarded to Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Novaya Gazeta, for $103,500,000. All proceeds will help fund UNICEF's humanitarian response benefitting Ukrainian child refugees and their families displaced by war.

Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev pressed charges against the Swiss art dealer for misrepresenting purchase prices of artworks; now a Monaco judge has dismissed the suit after it was revealed Rybolovlev bribed the minister for justice to influence the case. Legal action continues in the US, London, Paris, and Geneva.

On display at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris this Fall, the Morozov collection is one of most remarkable, yet not the only one of its kind: the collection is in keeping with a long tradition of Russian art connoisseurs.

It took over half a century for Paris to open its exhibition spaces to the outstanding Bührle collection. Now housed in Zurich, this unique group of Impressionist works has a somewhat sullied history connected with Nazi plunder. Where do things stand today?