No subject

and
St Petersburg draws on work from Russia=92s four principal state =
collections:
the Pushkin Museum, the Tretyakov Gallery, the Hermitage Museum and the
Russian Museum. It explores the links between French and Russian art =
during
a period that witnessed some of the most important developments in =
modern
art, including Impressionism.

The star of the exhibition is The Dance by Matisse. Some of the greatest
works by Renoir, Cezanne, Van Gogh and Gauguin will go on display next =
to
those by Kandinsky, Malevich and Chagall. Many have never been seen =
outside
Russia before.

The amicable resolution to the dispute will do little to thaw relations
between Russia and Britain, however, which are at their worst since the =
end
of the Cold War. The two sides are heading for a fresh showdown next =
week
over the fate of the British Council.

Russia has ordered the Council to close offices in St Petersburg and
Yekaterinburg, which it claims are operating illegally. Mikhail Kamynin, =
a
Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that any attempt to reopen after the =
new
year holiday would be =93provocative and build up bilateral tensions=94.

The Council has said that it will defy the Kremlin and resume operations =
on
Monday, arguing that it was in full compliance with Russian law. The =
dispute
has already triggered furious demands from Gordon Brown and David =
Miliband,
the Foreign Secretary, for Russia to withdraw threats against the =
council.

Mr Kamynin suggested that Russia could go further and demand closure of =
the
council=92s Moscow headquarters. He said: =93We have not raised the =
question of
the British Council=92s office in Moscow thus far, and this is an act of
goodwill.=94

Moscow has linked the attack on the Council to tensions over Mr =
Putin=92s
refusal to extradite Andrei Lugovoy to face trial for the murder of Mr
Litvinenko, a dissident former Russian state security officer who was
poisoned in London with radioactive polonium-210 in November 2006.

Britain expelled four Russian diplomats in protest last July, prompting
Moscow to retaliate by sending home four British officials. Sergei =
Lavrov,
the Foreign Minister, has admitted that Russia=92s demand for the =
British
Council to close its offices was a reaction to the expulsions.=20

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/