New York investor seeks $3.3 million tied to Shchukin Gallery judgments
The filing claims a yearslong effort to move or hide assets as Gershkovich and Frolova tried to collect on earlier court rulings.
Law and Crime
Investor Vladislav Gershkovich and attorney Irina Frolova filed a new legal action in New York Supreme Court to recover over $3.3 million in unpaid court judgments from earlier cases tied to Shchukin Gallery and related entities.
The March 30 filing is a summons with notice, the opening step in a lawsuit. It signals that Gershkovich and Frolova are moving to collect the money, but it does not include the full details of their case. A more detailed complaint can be filed later, outlining the allegations and evidence as the case progresses.
The document names Dmitry Preobrazhenskiy, also known as Dmitry Shchukin, along with Marina Preobrazhenskaya, the estate of Nikolay Shchukin, the estate of Stephen Weingrad and several entities bearing the Shchukin name.
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Court Documents: Shchukin Gallery Judgment Enforcement Action
Records from New York Supreme Court
Adam Schrader
Gershkovich and Frolova want to enforce earlier court decisions that they said “remain wholly unsatisfied,” with a total balance of $3,392,203.44 as of March 27. The amount increases by $526.41 per day in interest, according to the document.
Most of the amount comes from a 2019 judgment in Gershkovich’s favor, which totals $3.14 million with interest. Frolova is also seeking $251,356 related to a charging lien from that judgment, as well as a smaller 2022 judgment of $604.76.
The new action describes a “deliberate, multi-year scheme to render the judgment debtors uncollectable,” alleging those named in the case “systematically stripped the judgment debtors of their assets and revenues and placed them beyond Plaintiffs’ reach.”
The filing seeks to hold the defendants personally liable and recover assets allegedly transferred, diverted, or concealed. It also seeks remedies including a court-supervised accounting and orders to prevent further movement of assets.
The broader dispute has unfolded for years around Shchukin Gallery and related entities.
Earlier reporting described a fight over five Russian avant-garde paintings — three by Kazimir Malevich and two by Natalia Goncharova — that Shchukin Gallery said were worth about $63 million. The Art Newspaper reported that the conflict dated back to 2013, when the gallery sought financing tied to those works.
In earlier court cases, the Shchukins said they had signed a debt restructuring agreement only under pressure after the artworks were withheld. New York courts disagreed, finding there was no real issue of duress and ruling that simply threatening to use legal rights to collect a debt does not prove duress.
Follow along with other lawsuits at Urgent Matter's art lawsuit tracker.
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