The exhibition, entitled From Russia: French and Russian Master Paintings was due to open at the Royal Academy of Arts on January 26 - the paintings are currently being displayed in the German city of Dusseldorf. The exhibition has been heavily promoted in the U.K. and already over 4,000 tickets have been sold.
On Thursday Russian culture authorities said the exhibition would not open in the U.K. as scheduled, after British media reported that a number of paintings could fail to return to Russia over fears their pre-Revolution owners would make legal claims for their return.
"The U.K. said that on January 7 it would adopt a bill providing guarantees against the seizure of artworks," said the head of Russia's Culture Agency, Mikhail Shvydkoi. "Russia has requested to see the text of the new law, which will be sent in the nearest future and our lawyers will study it carefully."
"As soon as we understand that there is no threat of seizure, we will send the exhibition to London," he added.
The U.K. Ministry of Culture, Media and Sport earlier said it "has done everything possible to facilitate the exhibition going ahead, including full assurances that the works would be protected from seizure."
Some say the dispute could be linked to political problems between Russia and Britain over the Alexander Litvinenko murder, which sparked a diplomatic row in the summer, as well as a dispute over the recent forced closure of two British Council offices in Russia.
The exhibition involves Russia's four largest museums - the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum and the Tretyakov State Gallery in Moscow, and the Hermitage and the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. The paintings on display include works by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Renoir, Cezanne, Picasso, Kandinsky, Malevich, Petrov-Vodkin and other world-famous artists. Matisse's Dance commissioned by Sergei Shchukin in 1909 was expected to be the star of the show.
Officials from Russian museums involved in the exhibition have supported the country's culture agency, after a 2005 incident with the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum and a Swiss company, Noga. The company attempted to seize Russian property on loan to Switzerland in lieu of debt payments.
