Here is a series of images from a recent exhibition at the Igor Grabar VRNTs in Moscow… it gives you an idea of the scope of their work.
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A large number of paintings and icons stored on the third floor of the Igor Grabar all-Russian Scientific and Restoration Centre (VRNTs) on Radio Street were lost in a fire, a source in Emercom told Interfax. The third floor was destroyed. Although the fire is mostly out, there are still pockets of flame left in the building. Firemen are still at the fire scene; they do not yet fully have the fire under control. For more effectiveness in securing the fire scene, firemen are using large exhaust fans at the site. They are directing water on the whirling fan blades, which are 1.5 metres (@5 feet) in diameter, to spray water onto the remaining hot points. No artefacts were on display in the Bakhrushin Theatre Museum of the Grabar VRNTs, Interfax reported, but spokesmen at the Centre informed us that two icons still are under restoration. “A federal programme signed a contract for restoration work with the Grabar VRNTs. I don’t know what we’re going to do now with these icons. Of course, it is good that they were not in the Radio Street location during the fire, but what do we do concerning their restoration now? That’s a vexing problem”, a staff member of the VRNTs said to us. Meanwhile, we have not been able to obtain information about whether there were artworks from the Tretyakov or Pushkin in the restoration shops during the fire. According to the latest reports, two firemen were killed fighting the fire.
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Staff at the Igor Grabar VRNTs fear that paintings and icons that survived the fire may yet be irretrievably lost due to water damage. A VRNTs staff member told Interfax that art works not affected by the fire would suffer damage from the large amount of water used by firemen to control the blaze. She told us, “Water will inevitably lead to the appearance of mould on paintings and icons”. Another staff member told us that an accurate assessment of the damage to the artworks at the centre from the fire could only be determined after they do a full inventory of the remaining assets of the VRNTs. “[The loss] could run into hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of roubles”, she said. Furthermore, she said that we do not know yet how many items were saved, as paintings and icons from the 17th to the 19th centuries were stored at the Grabar VRNTs pending restoration. At present, the market value of the majority of the items kept at the Centre is unknown. Twenty fire companies responded to the scene on Thursday and four helicopters dumped water on hot spots in the building 104 times. At 18.15 MSK (15.15 UTC 10.15 EDT 07.15 PDT), the fire was declared out. Emercom investigators are now looking for the cause of the incident. According to the SKP, on Thursday, beginning at 09.00 MSK (06.00 UTC 01.00 EDT 22.00 14 July PDT), at 17 Radio Street in Moscow, the site of the Igor Grabar VRNTs, workers began repairs to the roof using blowtorches, and at 13.30 MSK (10.30 UTC 05.30 EDT 02.30 PDT), the fire broke out.
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During the fire on Thursday, the Igor Grabar VRNTs in Moscow held many objects from the Pskov and Novgorod conservation areas for restoration and safekeeping. “The Grabar VRNTs has received for restoration irreplaceable ancient Russian icons from the 15th to the 17th centuries, and a shroud (плащаница) from the 16th century. By itself, the value of one icon of the Nativity is estimated at 12 million Euros (473.547 million Roubles 15.522 million USD 10.14 million UK Pounds)”, Olga Vasilieva, a department head at the Pskov museum, told Interfax. In turn, a source from the Novgorod Museum told us that the Centre held many objects from various departments of the museum, such as icons, paintings, and craftworks. “Right now, we’d like to know if they survived the fire, we hope that everything is OK, because if they are lost, it would be a very serious loss not only for the collection of our museum, but for the country as a whole”, our source said. None of the items from the two museums sent to the Grabar VRNTs for restoration was insured.
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On Friday, sources in the management at the Andrei Rublyov Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art told Interfax that fragments from frescoes and carvings were at the Igor Grabar VRNTs pending restoration. In particular, they mentioned fragments of frescoes from Resurrection church in Puchezh (Ivanovo oblast) dating from 1789, and 4 pieces of woodcarving from the 18th and 19th centuries. At present, they do not know the fate of the objects sent to the Centre. “However, we were informed yesterday that our items were on the second floor of the building, which was only slightly damaged by the fire, so we hope that our objects survived the blaze”, our source told us. They also indicated that, if necessary, they are prepared to accept the deposit of works of art from other museums from the fire-affected areas of the Grabar VRNTs.
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Initial inspections showed that the artworks in the workshops of the Igor Grabar VRNTs “were not seriously damaged” in the fire, Natalia Uvarova, the head of the press service of the Ministry of Culture told Interfax. According to her count, all the workshops of the Centre held over a thousand artworks in temporary storage, 400 of these items were in the restoration centre proper. However, Ms Uvarova noted that the work of the commission assessing the damage from the fire is still proceeding. “There hasn’t been a more thorough inspection of the storage facilities because there’s still a great deal of water on the floor. Moreover, it’s difficult to breathe in this area [of the building], and Emercom doesn’t allow anyone to stay inside for long”, she added.
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Paintings, icons, and other valuable objects that were in the restoration workshops of the Igor Grabar VRNTs were saved from fire and water damage by being stored in a concrete vault. “You could say that the people who built this concrete bunker rescued these unique paintings today”, Aleksandr Avdeyev, the Minister of Culture, said in comments posted on the official website of the Ministry on Friday. Mr Avdeyev pointed up that the Ministry of Culture instituted a working committee to assess the damage and the effects of the fire. “The commission’s work will last about a month, for we will need to take the time for a full inventory of the artworks, to assess the status of the work upon them, and note the degree of their preservation, so that we can take the necessary actions for the restoration of the affected items and document everything”, he said, calling the fire in the Centre “a great tragedy. “Emercom personnel were killed [fighting the fire], Vyacheslav Shashin and Aleksandr Dymchikov… they were young, brave, and selfless people. They saved people and saved our cultural treasures… paintings, icons, and engravings… they remained loyal to their professional and human duty to the very end. May their memories remain brilliant”, Mr Avdeyev said .
15-16 July 2010
Interfax-Religion
http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=36493
http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=36496
http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=36497
http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=36506
http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=36508
http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=36515
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A Portrait of the Painter Igor Grabar
Boris Kustodiev
1915
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Igor Emmanuilovich was one of the greatest sons of Podkarpatska Rus… and he wasn’t a Uniate!
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Editor’s Note:
Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar (1871-1960) was one of the leading Russophile Carpatho-Russians of the 20th century. He was born in Budapest, in the Dual Monarchy, but the Hapsburg authorities expelled his family for their pro-Russian and pro-Orthodox activities. He studied law, graduating in 1893, but he went on to work as a painter. He was active in art and arts administration in Russia/USSR until his death, preserving many artworks and architectural monuments from destruction by the more virulent amongst the communist authorities. Oh… you’ll hear much rubbish from Uniates concerning how the Sovs “forced” Orthodoxy on people in Galicia and Podkarpatska Rus… that’s not true at all. Remember Igor Emmanuilovich, the confessor priest Fr Mikhail Shuvar, Fr Gavriil Kostelnik the Martyr, St Aleksei Kabalyuk, and St Maksim Sandovich (and Metropolitans Laurus Škurla and Hilarion Kapral). Don’t let the Uniate lies pass unchallenged. Speak up! Stand up for Christ and His Church… not for the Pope of Rome and his trumperies…
You can find more information on Igor Emmanuilovich here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Grabar
My thanks to my two friends who (independently of one another) wrote me about the fire and the legacy of Igor Emmanuilovich. This will do, won’t it?
BMD
Barbara-Marie Drezhlo
Voices from Russia 
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