Amherst Center for Russian Culture "Art in Doubt:" Film Screening and Curator's Talk

Please join us for a screening of the new BBC documentary "The Zaks Affair: Anatomy of a Fake Collection," an exciting detective story that investigates a collection of dubious works of the Russian avant-garde. Maria Timina, curator of Russian and European Art at the Mead, was interviewed for the film, along with former ACRC speakers Konstantin Akinsha and James Butterwick. 

After the screening, Maria will give a talk on the exhibition "Art in Doubt: A Critical Examination of the Thomas P. Whitney Collection, Part 2," the ACRC's own ongoing investigation into questions of authenticity. This exhibition is about suspected fakes and possible forgeries, about works that cause us to doubt history, experts and art itself. It is about doubt as an essential part of art attribution, while it is also about how knowledge can transform skepticism into assurance. With a focus on the Thomas P. Whitney Collection, a collection of over six hundred objects housed at the Mead Art Museum, “Art in Doubt” marks the first scholarly presentation of dubious works of Russian and Soviet modern art in the United States. In two parts, the exhibition continues throughout the 2023-24 academic year. Part 1 featured exclusively artworks of disputed authenticity—those with imaginary histories of ownership, unreliable authenticity certificates, misleading signatures, and fabricated artist biographies. Part 2 offers a wider range of artworks whose authenticity has been questioned, some of which are highly dubious and some of which now appear to be genuine.