LONDON—The Guardian reported today that officials in Moscow had canceled a major exhibition, "From Russia: French and Russian Art Masterpieces of 1870-1925," scheduled to open at the Royal Academy in London on January 26, 2008.

However, the British government contacted ARTINFO immediately after the news was posted on our site to say it had no knowledge of a cancellation.

“We have had no notification that the Russian galleries intend to change their plans to loan works,” the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport said in a statement emailed from spokeswoman Fiona Cameron. Works to go on display include Matisse's Dance, six Gaugins, important Cezannes, and works by Renoir and Picasso.

Irina Antonova, general director of the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, told the Guardian that works would not be loaned from the Pushkin and three other institutions—the State Hermitage Museum, the Tretyakov Gallery, and the Russian Museum—because of worries that they might be subject to legal claims, and because Britain had not guaranteed their return to Russia. “As negotiations on such guarantees have ended unsuccessfully, the decision on returning all the exhibits to Russia has been made,” she said.

But the British government disputed that claim, too, telling ARTINFO it guaranteed the works’ return months ago: "The Government has done everything possible to facilitate the exhibition going ahead, including full assurances that the works would be protected from seizure,” the statement said. “The Secretary of State wrote to the Head of the Russian Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography on 7 December to confirm that the works of art would be subject to the State Immunity Act 1978. We have also underwritten the collection against loss or damage to the value of nearly £900 million."

Cameron's e-mail to ARTINFO also contained a copy of the letter of assurance from the British Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport.

The supposed cancellation of “From Russia” deepens an already widening rift between Britain and Russia. The Kremlin announced last week that it would close the British Council's two regional offices in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. The two countries have clashed over the investigation of the assassination of former KGB agent Alexander Litvenenko, and, according to the Guardian, Russia had indicated that the offices could stay open if Britain dropped its investigation.