Pushkin Museum Launches Crowdfunding to Acquire Newly Authenticated Titian

The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow has launched a crowdfunding campaign to purchase a recently authenticated painting by Titian, Venus and Adonis. The work was bought in 2005 by a private Russian collector in Paris, who believed it was a notable copy. Skeptical of expert appraisals, the collector contacted Pushkin researcher Viktoria Markova, who suggested it might be an original. In 2014, a team from the Museo del Prado in Madrid, including Spanish and British experts, conducted X-ray analysis on both the Prado's version and the Russian painting, concluding that the latter was likely the true original. The Pushkin Museum aims to raise between €8.5 million and €17 million via Planeta.ru, Russia's first crowdfunding site, founded five years ago. The choice of a local platform suggests a focus on Russian private donors. Director Marina Loshak stated in a national TV interview, 'These projects are only achievable collectively; it cannot be the mission of a small group of people, a single museum, or a narrow circle of experts.' The campaign is unprecedented for a Russian cultural institution.