Russian investigators say at least 30 forged works by Soviet dissident sculptor Ernst Neizvestny were sold to private collectors

According to a now redacted story, Channel One chief executive Konstantin Ernst is listed as a victim in the criminal case over the forgery of works by sculptor and graphic artist Ernst Neizvestny, two sources in the art market told the Russian business daily Kommersant. A source at the Tretyakov Gallery confirmed the report.

The forgeries came to light during an exhibition marking the centenary of Ernst Neizvestny, which ran at the New Tretyakov Gallery from December 16, 2025, to May 12, 2026, one of Kommersant’s sources said.

“Konstantin Lvovich Ernst lobbied for the Neizvestny centennial exhibition. He is a major collector of graphic works and [works by] nonconformist [artists, a category that includes Neizvestny]. The Tretyakov accepted [the submitted works] as originals,” the source said.

The exhibition featured works from both museum and private collections. The forgeries were found only among works from private collections, Kommersant’s source added. It remains unclear who else in the case is listed as a victim alongside Ernst.

Update. Kommersant removed from its article the information that Konstantin Ernst had been recognized as a victim. The newspaper now reports that Ernst does not appear in the case “in any capacity.” Among the victims in the case, Kommersant names Lyubov Agafonova, founder of the Vellum Gallery; Roza Verkhovyna, director of the auction house Pervye Imena (“First Names”); and Vyacheslav Yershov, executive director of the Prometheus Art Foundation.

On May 29, Russia’s Investigative Committee announced a criminal case involving the forgery of works by Ernst Neizvestny. The defendant is Maxim Koshkarev, deputy chief of staff of the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet and a captain of the second rank. Investigators allege that he and his accomplices — who have not yet been identified — forged at least 30 works by Neizvestny and sold them to private collectors.

Ernst Neizvestny is one of the defining artists of postwar Soviet nonconformism. In 1962, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev famously called his work “degenerate art” after visiting a 1962 exhibition. Neizvestny was then expelled from the Artists’ Union and effectively barred from practicing his craft. In the 1970s, the sculptor emigrated to the United States, where critics embraced his work.