Putin returns to Armenian president reconstructed Vrubel painting stolen in Yerevan in 1995

MOSCOW, November 15. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin handed the ‘Demon and Angel with Tamara’s Soul’ watercolor by Russian painter Mikhail Vrubel (1856-1910) to Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan at the Tretyakov Art Gallery on Wednesday. Mikhail Vrubel’s black watercolor on cardboard ‘Demon and Angel with Tamara’s Soul’ (1891) is one of the illustrations for the poem The Demon by Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov. The piece of work was kept in the collection of Professor Aram Abramyan, who donated his collection to found the Museum of Russian Art in the Armenian capital of Yerevan. In 1995 the painting was stolen from the museum and for the past 20 years was reported stolen. Law enforcers found it and handed over to the Tretyakov Gallery for restoration as the watercolor had been badly damaged. Experts in painting repair have managed to put it together actually sliver by sliver. Read more