Division of the Collection

“My paintings were like my own children for me … On the eve of parting, I painfully thought that everything that I will leave behind is a part of me and I will forever feel this parting pain, similar to that of a bleeding wound." (from the memoirs of George Costakis). In 1977, having made a decision to move abroad with his family, Сostakis turned to the Ministry of Culture with a proposal to donate 80 percent of the collection to the State Tretyakov Gallery with the condition that 20 percent will be allowed to exit the country . The issue was resolved positively. Contrary to Costaki's darkest premonitions, this transfer of works as a gift to the Tretyakov Gallery went smoothly. Moreover, George Costakis insisted that the best things remain in Russia.

In the spring of 1977, the museum’s commission worked in the Costakis’ apartment on prospekt Vernadskogo almost every day. The first act of transfer was made on March 21, the last - on August 24. As a result, the collector donated 144 paintings and 656 graphic works to the state. Costakis has repeatedly stressed that he literally had to struggle in order for some important works to be left in Russia. For example, the commission rejected almost all of Rodchenko's paintings (for them he was only a photographer), the same fate befell the works of Lyubov Popova, Ivan Klyun and others. After more than 800 units of the collection were donated to the Tretyakov Gallery, Costakis left the country and the remaining part of his collection was sent to Germany with the stamp “Permitted to exit the USSR …”.