Russia uncovers new artwork theft

Drawings worth several millions of dollars have been stolen from a Russian state archive in a theft that was only noticed when some of the items were sold at a London auction house, officials said yesterday.

The disclosure came a week after a massive art theft was uncovered at the Hermitage museum, raising questions about the security of priceless artworks kept in Russia's many cash-strapped state museums and archives.

"In the course of checks we discovered the disappearance of drawings by Yakov Chernikhov valued at several million dollars," said Yevgeny Strelchik, a spokesman for state culture watchdog Rosokhrankultura.

The drawings by the avant-garde architect were held at the State Literature and Art Archive. Mr Strelchik said checks were initiated after Russian officials discovered some of Mr Chernikhov's work had been sold at Christie's auction house in London on June 22.

"We began the checks to establish how those drawings got there... We believe it is possible that they got there by illegal means," said Mr Strelchik.

Christie's said some of the drawings were sold but the sales were cancelled and the items returned to Russia when it emerged there was a problem.

Most of the Chernikhov collection has still not been recovered.

Russia's culture authorities have been embarrassed by the theft of hundreds of antique enamel and silver artefacts from the Hermitage museum, in St Petersburg. Police said they had arrested the husband and son of a curator at the museum. The theft exposed lax security: inventories of the museum's collection had not been carried out for decades. Officials blamed a lack of funding in the 1990s, which also left many museum staff living off paltry wages.

"Unfortunately, I have to note that this (the theft of Mr Chernikhov's drawings) could not have happened without the participation of the staff," state archive director Tatyana Goryaeva told Rossiya television station.

Two of the items missing from the Hermitage - a gold-plated cross and a ladle - were found in a bag outside the St Petersburg offices of the Federal Security Service yesterday, Interfax news agency said.

Last week an icon from the Hermitage was found in a rubbish bin and an antiques dealer handed in a chalice. Christie's said it sold five lots of Mr Chernikhov's works and that the sale raised £33,600.

"Now that it has been established that the vendor did not in fact have title to sell these works, the sales have been cancelled and the objects returned to Russia," the auction house said in a statement.

"Christie's will not sell any work of art that we know or have reason to believe has been stolen. We devote considerable resources to investigating the provenance of all objects we offer for sale."

In the 1930s, Mr Chernikhov was an active member of the Constructivist movement - a trend in architecture which favoured modern, functional buildings and was briefly embraced by the Communist authorities.

He published books of drawings depicting buildings of the future which are widely read by architecture students, the Iakov Chernikhov International Foundation said on its website www.icif.ru