Royal Academy May Have Lost Russian Museums Show Over Immunity-from-Seizure Uncertainties UPDATED

There have been lots of conflicting accounts about whether or not Russia has definitely canceled the big museum loan show scheduled to run from Jan. 26 to Apr. 18 at London's Royal Academy. Here's what Johanna Bennett of the Academy's press office stated yesterday:

The Royal Academy of Arts has not received any official notification regarding the status of the exhibition From Russia: French and Russian Master Paintings 1870-1925 from Moscow and St. Petersburg and is seeking clarification with the Russian Ministry of Culture.

At issue, as I posted in October, is the question of whether Great Britain can provide airtight immunity from seizure for any loans that claimants might try to obtain.

Bloomberg reports that the Russian show has been canceled. But the London Times and the International Herald Tribune said the final decision would be made today. And the Manchester Guardian quoted Irina Antonova, the long-time general director of the Pushkin, as saying:

As negotiations on such [immunity from seizure] guarantees have ended unsuccessfully, the decision on returning all the exhibits to Russia has been made.

In addition to the Pushkin, the State Tretyakov Museum, Moscow, and the State Hermitage Museum and the State Russian Museum, both in St. Petersburg, were to have lent more than 120 paintings. The show is currently at the Museum Kunst Palast, Dusseldorf.

It seems clear that without guarantees that loaned objects will be returned, major international exhibitions that have been the lifeblood of museums around the world will be seriously compromised. No owner wants to risk losing loaned works or being trapped in "Portrait of Wally" limbo.

Events will likely overtake this post as some point today. I'll update when I can, but I'll be offline for much of the day.

UPDATE: Reuters reports that the Russian decision to back out of the show was finalized today (Thursday).