Weeks after Dasha Zhukova lured hundreds of art-world bigwigs to Moscow
to celebrate her new exhibition space in a landmark bus depot, another
glamorous Russian is acquiring another bus depot (designed by the same
architect, Konstantin Melnikov). Stella Kesaeva, the long-legged wife of
billionaire tobacco oligarch Igor Kesaev, is partnering with the Russian
government on a new museum in the Melnikov space in the city center.
Kesaeva, who by Moscow standards has a lengthy track record in
contemporary art (she’s been collecting since way back in 2002 and
operates the Stella Art Foundation, which exhibits neglected Russian
conceptual artists, among others), says her space will include an
academy to train Russian talent: “We will offer master classes from the
best artists and professors in the world.”