The Swiss mega gallery Hauser & Wirth, which has areas in London and Somerset in addition to Los Angeles, Paris and Hong Kong, has been cleared of breaching Russian sanctions in reference to the sale of a murals by George Apartment.
The gallery was first charged in November 2025, alongside the transport firm Artay Rauchwerger Solomons, after promoting Apartment’s work on paper, Escape from Humanity (2021), to a collector named Alexander Popov. The sale is reported to have occurred someday between 14 April and 31 December 2022—after the UK’s division for worldwide commerce imposed a ban on the export of luxurious items value greater than £250 to Russia, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Popov, who runs a outstanding artwork basis along with his spouse, shouldn’t be underneath UK sanctions and was not accused of any wrongdoing.
In what was believed to be the primary case referring to the UK’s ban on provide of luxurious items to Russia, Decide Tony Baumgardner quashed the 2 legal fees yesterday, ruling that prosecutors had not produced enough proof that Popov was a Russian resident on the time of the sale.
A spokesperson for Hauser & Wirth confirmed that the court docket had “dismissed the case towards our UK gallery in its entirety”. They add: “From the outset, we strongly contested these proceedings and denied any wrongdoing. We proceed to be absolutely dedicated to complying with all our authorized obligations together with with respect to sanctions. We’re happy that this matter is now closed.”
The prosecution got here on the finish of final 12 months after it was introduced that Apartment had left Hauser & Wirth; the gallery’s spokesperson informed The Artwork Newspaper on the time that Apartment’s determination to depart was not linked to the case. This week, Hauser & Wirth introduced it might as soon as once more symbolize Apartment alongside his long-term gallery Sprüth Magers.
