Summary: An evening lecture in support of the exhibition 'From Russia: French and Russian Master Paintings 1870-1925 from Moscow and St Petersburg', 26 January - 18 April 2008. By 1917, Moscow textile merchant Sergei Shchukin had assembled the most important collection of modern Western art in the world, including numerous works by Cezanne, van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse and Picasso. Yet for more than 70 years he and his fellow collector, Ivan Morosov, were obliterated from the Soviet record. Authors Hilary Spurling and Natalia Semonova recount how Beverly Kean first uncovered their remarkable story for her book All the Empty Palaces. This event took place at the Royal Academy of Arts on 29 February 2008.
