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MOSCOW, Dec 20: Moscow on Thursday cancelled a much-awaited exhibition of precious paintings in London, saying Britain had failed to guarantee the works’ safe return, as a diplomatic row between the two countries spilled into the art world.
Britain failed to persuade Russia to loan the 120 masterpieces by French and Russian painters, including Matisse’s iconic “The Dance”, said the head of the Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography, Mikhail Shvydkoi.
A letter was sent to the British government declaring it was “impossible to accept as sufficient the guarantees of the exhibition’s (legal) immunity and the return” of the artworks to Russia.—AFP
