FILATOV FAMILY ART FUND REBRANDS AS ART RUSSE AHEAD OF LONDON MUSEUM LAUNCH
01 Jun 14
The Filatov Family Art Fund announces today that it is rebranding to ART RUSSE as it prepares to open a new museum in London. The new name reflects its expanded scope of activity as the fund moves to showcase its important and comprehensive art collection in a new museum dedicated entirely to works from this period.
ART RUSSE will continue the work of the Filatov Family Art Fund, but will take on a broader role, with the focus shifting from collecting art to showing the world the breadth and depth of the talent that thrived in Russia. ART RUSSE therefore intends to open its own dedicated museum in London to fulfil its ambition of introducing an international audience to this underappreciated era in Russian art. The museum will also function as a platform for Russian museums to exhibit their paintings and will enable young Russians living abroad to explore their cultural heritage.
The new museum's collection will be composed of more than 300 works of art from the Socialist Realism period all of which have been acquired by ART RUSSE and its founder Andrey Filatov. Much of the art from this period left Russia in the 1990s and some hasn't been on public view in decades. These works were largely uncovered and purchased from small private collections around the world. This museum will enable ART RUSSE to showcase these works which form one of the most important and comprehensive collections of this period.
The fund already has a track record of actively developing relationships with the world's leading museums and art galleries in order to bring important Russian art to new audiences. In 2013 and 2014 the fund organised the first ever Viktor Popkov exhibitions in Moscow, Venice, and London. Working with the Federal State Institution of Culture of the State Museum and Exhibition Center (Rosizo) in Moscow, these exhibitions included key works from the Tretyakov State Gallery, the Russian Museum and several regional museums in Russia. Last year, the art fund also agreed to support the creation of a permanent collection of Russian art at the Louvre. In 2012, the fund lent key works by the Russian-born artist Nicolai Fechin to the Frye Museum in Seattle.
