Reuters: Russian art gallery to review alcohol sales after attack on masterpiece

Published May 28, 2018 at 9:02 pm

People queue to visit the exhibition by Russian artist Valentin Serov at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow on January 22, 2016. A top Russian museum struggled to control record crowds as thousands rushed to see a 19th-century art exhibition, queing for hours in the snow and even breaking a door. The exhibition of paintings by Valentin Serov, renowned for his society portraits, broke attendance records at Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery, with visitors queueing outside in freezing temperatures to see the show before it closes Sunday. "Yesterday the entrance door was damaged," spokeswoman Anna Kotlyar told AFP. "This exhibition broke all records with over 400,000 visitors."

Photo by AFP

One of Russia’s leading art galleries announced on May 28 it would try to stop the sale of alcohol on its premises after a man attacked a masterpiece with a metal pole after drinking vodka there.

The incident at Moscow’s State Tretyakov Gallery on May 25 caused serious damage to one of the country’s most famous paintings, which depicts Tsar Ivan the Terrible cradling his dying son in 1581, and raised awkward questions about how Russia protects its historical and cultural artifacts