The important Pushkin Museum of Art in Moscow receives new management after political repression in the country. Moscow’s Ministry of Culture announced on Tuesday that the museum’s new director will be Elizaveta Likhacheva. Well-known art historian Marina Loschak, who headed the internationally renowned institution for ten years, is leaving “at her own request”.
The contract with the director of the museum, who was born in Odessa, Ukraine, would have expired on April 2. In early February, the administration of the famous Tretyakov Gallery was changed and filled with the daughter of a secret service general.
Pushkin’s new director, Likhacheva, has so far headed the Shchusev Museum of Architecture in Moscow. The 44-year-old studied art history and worked mainly in the field of architecture. The Pushkin Museum has one of the most important art collections in Russia, with paintings and sculptures from European and non-European cultural history. There is also looted art from World War II that the Red Army brought to the Soviet Union from Germany.
The museum’s previous director, Loschak, was considered well connected and also greatly modernized the Pushkin Museum’s exhibition activities. However, there has long been speculation that the renowned specialist, who is reputed to be out of line with the country’s illiberal cultural policy, will be replaced. Loschak’s daughter, Anna Mongait, works as a journalist for TV Rain. Both the broadcaster and Mongait itself were classified as a “foreign agent”. Rain TV activity is prohibited in Russia. (apa/dpa)