SOVIET ART SALES.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 258, 31 October 1928, Page 7

SOVIET ART SALES.

BIDDERS WARNED. Exiled Owners Raise Legal Issues. PRINCES' PROTEST. (Australian and N.Z. Press Association.) (Received 10 a.m.) BERLIN, October 30. The announcement of the sale of 500 Soviet art treasures in Berlin, including the famous Houdon statues' and well known Dutch and Italian pictures, has aroused a sharp controversy. Treasures from the Hermitage and other Leningrad palaces are owned by Russian Princes, who protest at the disposal of their personal property under the plea that the revolution justified the Soviet in coniiscating the property on behalf of the Russian peopls. Representatives of the princely families who recognise the pictures and statues by the sale catalogue, have initiated a law-suit to decide the legality of the affair. They warn purchasers that the validity of their biddings is liable to investigation in the German Courts. If successful, the Berlin sale is likely to be the forerunner of numerous similar disposals of Russian treasures. The sale of the Russia works of art is being conducted on behalf of the Soviet Trade Delegation and in all 447 valuable objects have been taken from the Leningrad museums and castles. The catalogue explains that Russia's public collections have been so enriched by the confiscation of public collections that it has become possible to dispose of the surplus without depleting the museums and galleries. The surplus is so numerous that it is impossible to find accommodation even after utilising the late Czar's Winter Palace. The objects for sale include priceless tapestries, gold ware, furiture, sculptures and paintings.