June 10, 2026

Forgeries Exhibited at Tretyakov


Forgeries Exhibited at Tretyakov
The actual artist with an actual artwork. Russian state media.

What was supposed to be an exhibit celebrating artist Ernst Neizvestny’s work turned into a criminal investigation into suspected forgeries. Between December 2025 and May 2026, the State Tretyakov Gallery displayed sculptures and paintings by Neizvestny during the “Age of the Unknown” exhibit.​ However, some of the works may actually be fakes.

Ernst Neizvestny was well known for nonconformist artworks that challenged the dominant Socialist Realist school. He famously argued with Nikita Krushchev during a 1962 Moscow Union of Artists Exhibition, in which Khrushchev called Neizvestny's and others' works as "degenerate" (ironically, Neizvestny later designed Krushchev’s cemetery memorial).

Then Anna Graham, Neizvestny’s widow, claimed that works featured in the Tretyakov Gallery exhibit are forgeries. She said she is the only one able to issue certificates of authenticity for Neizvestny’s later works, while the artist’s daughter, Olga Neizvestnaya, issues certificates of authenticity for Neizvestny's earlier works created in Russia.

This prompted an investigation that proved inconclusive, leading to a undergo forensic analysis if the 37 paintings and 10 sculptures in question.

That analysis is coming to a close.

Kommersant reported that: 

"According to the Investigative Committee, a group of forgers has produced at least 30 fake sculptures and paintings attributed to Neizvestny over the past six years. These forgeries were sold to collectors, generating proceeds of at least 90 million rubles. The collectors were unaware the works were fake, only discovering the truth after submitting them to the Tretyakov Gallery for an exhibition. Freelance curator Elena Gribonosova-Grebneva, who worked on the exhibition’s labels and explanatory texts, told *Kommersant* that the sculptures had not been authenticated prior to the show; the fraud was uncovered while the exhibition was already underway, though the identity of the person who exposed it—and the method used—remains unknown."

Meanwhile, Maxim Koshkarev, Deputy Chief of Staff of Russia’s Northern Fleet, has been charged with forging at least 30 artworks, worth about R90 million. He is now under house arrest, likely awaiting time in prison, and his property, worth some R 128 million ($1.7 million), has been seized.

Kommersant wrote that Lyubov Agafonova, an aggrieved party, told the paper that, as early as two years ago, she suspected that there were forged Neizvestny works on the art market and "had asked colleagues not to exhibit pieces that resembled copies of already known sculptures. At that time, she alleged, Koshkarev contacted her and threatened her with unspecified consequences for 'confronting dealers.'"

You Might Also Like

Statue

Statue

The 12-meter high monument "In Memory of the Fallen Miners", by recently deceased sculptor Ernst Neizvestny. It is on Red Hill, on the banks of the Tom river, where the first coal was discovered here. 
The Thaw Snaps
  • November 01, 2012

The Thaw Snaps

In December 1962, Nikita Khrushchev's Thaw was drawing to a close, only no one quite knew this yet. It would take a contrived showdown at a Moscow art exhibition to bring things to a head.
Security Guard Doodles
  • February 15, 2022

Security Guard Doodles

A security guard at the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center was fired after defacing a $1 million Soviet-era painting. 
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Fish
February 01, 2010

Fish

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas
October 01, 2013

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.

 
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955