Paintings by Kherson artist stolen by occupiers found in Crimea

In Crimea, two stolen paintings by the famous Kherson artist Yegor Tolkunov were found, which are illegally stored in a museum. The identification was made thanks to a photo taken during a visit by representatives of the occupation authorities.

This was reported by the press service of the Kherson Art Museum.

The museum staff continues to work on identifying works of art stolen by the Russian occupiers. In one of the recent photos from the Central Museum of Tavrida, they managed to recognize two works by the Kherson artist at once - "Self-Portrait" (1987) and "Foundry" (1980). The photo was taken in March 2026 during a visit by representatives of the occupation's "Ministry of Culture."

Yegor Tolkunov (1943-2018) is considered one of the most prominent artists of Kherson. His work encompasses portraiture, landscape, still life, and abstraction, and his style is characterized by a restrained palette, deep psychology, and a subtle sense of light.

As noted in the museum, the artist's "Self-Portrait" has a special emotional depth - the artist is depicted from the back, in a state of inner concentration, which emphasizes his connection with creativity and nature. Instead, "Foundry" demonstrates another facet of his talent - the ability to rethink industrial subjects, going beyond socialist realism and preserving the author's independence.

The museum emphasized that each identified work is an important piece of evidence for international courts and another step towards the return of cultural property to Ukraine. The work to find and record the stolen artwork continues.

This fall, the occupiers plan to open an exhibition of 300,000 artifacts that were illegally appropriated by Russia in Crimea on the territory of the Chersonese Tavriya Museum-Reserve. The occupation administration of the reserve has announced that access to the storage facility will be strictly limited.

Such increased control and misappropriation of a large-scale archaeological collection is viewed by Ukrainian monument protection activists as another attempt to legalize cultural looting on the occupied peninsula.

In April, the occupation director of the Central Museum of Tavrida in Crimea was notified of suspicion of stealing almost 11,000 exhibits from the Kherson Art Museum named after O. Shovkunenko.

Анна Літман