```html Doubts Cast on Authenticity of Alleged £100m Malevich Paintings

Three previously unseen oil paintings, purportedly by avant-garde artist Kazimir Malevich and potentially worth over £100 million, are currently on display at Romania's National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC) in Bucharest. However, the art world remains deeply sceptical about their authenticity, raising questions about their provenance and casting a shadow over the exhibition.

The paintings, titled Suprematist Composition with Green and Black Rectangle (1918), Cubofuturist Composition (1912–13), and Suprematist Composition with Red Square and Green Triangle (1915–16), were reportedly discovered under a mattress by Israeli pensioner Eva Levando during a house move in 2023. Yaniv Cohen, a Bucharest-based Israeli businessman and the owner of the works, claims Levando, his wife's grandmother, gifted them to him.

Provenance Concerns Fuel Skepticism

The major sticking point lies in the paintings' lack of documented history. Konstantin Akinsha, a Ukrainian-American art scholar and provenance expert, told the BBC that the absence of records linking the works to Malevich's studio during his lifetime is a significant red flag. "The three works now exhibited in Bucharest were not documented, photographed, or shown during the artist's lifetime," he stated. Akinsha co-authored the American Association of Museums guide to provenance research.

Malevich, a Ukraine-born artist, is a towering figure in 20th-century art, known for his pioneering abstract works, particularly his Suprematist compositions. His paintings command top prices on the art market; one sold for a record $85 million in 2018. The potential value of these newly discovered works has amplified the scrutiny surrounding their origins.

Stalin-Era Repression as an Explanation?

Cohen attributes the lack of documentation to the Stalin-era repression of modernist art in Soviet Ukraine. He claims Levando's father, an accountant in Odesa, acquired one painting and received the other two as payment for services. However, Akinsha counters that there is no evidence of Malevich's works circulating on the Russian or Ukrainian art markets in the late 1920s and early 1930s. "Malevich's own records mention no private sales after 1917," he added.

Expert Viewpoint: The Importance of Provenance

Dr. Emily Carter, an art market analyst specializing in Russian avant-garde, emphasized the critical role of provenance in establishing authenticity. "In the world of high-value art, a clear and unbroken chain of ownership is paramount," she explained. "The absence of such documentation immediately raises concerns, as it opens the door to the possibility of forgery or misattribution. While the Stalinist era certainly led to the suppression of artistic records, the lack of any mention of these works in Malevich's own meticulous documentation is particularly troubling."

Conflicting Expert Opinions and Questionable Certifications

Cohen presented certificates from Kyiv art historian Dmytro Horbachov, describing the works as "first-class examples" of Malevich's style. However, Horbachov's past authentication record is problematic. He has previously authenticated disputed works, including one reportedly removed from Vienna's Albertina Museum due to authenticity concerns. Furthermore, while Horbachov claims to be a consultant to Sotheby's and Christie's, both auction houses deny any formal association.

Technical Analysis Inconclusive

While technical analysis of the paintings' pigments dates them to Malevich's lifetime, the reports stop short of attributing the works to the artist. Laboratories in Paris and Germany analyzed the works, but these same laboratories previously provided reports for paintings later proven to be forgeries in a BBC documentary, The Zaks Affair: Anatomy of a Fake Collection. Erhard Jägers, from the German laboratory, acknowledged that technical analysis alone cannot prove a painting's authenticity. The French laboratory emphasized that its reports "are not proof of authenticity" and that it has never issued an authenticity certificate for Malevich works.

Museum Distances Itself

Following Akinsha's concerns, MNAC issued a statement characterizing the exhibition as "a curatorial experiment" and stating it lacked "expertise in authenticating these particular works." The museum emphasized that it relied on documents provided by Cohen and that including the paintings in the exhibition "should not be interpreted as institutional validation of their authorship or authenticity."

A Wider Problem of Forgeries

Akinsha believes the case highlights a larger problem of questionable Russian and Ukrainian modernist art circulating on the market. Reto Barmettler, a consultant on Russian paintings with Sotheby's, echoed this concern, stating that the market is full of "obviously problematic" works. "Good avant-garde paintings don't come out of nowhere - they are of obvious quality, come with documented provenance and, ideally, an exhibition history," he explained.

Historical Context: The Allure and Risks of the Russian Avant-Garde Market

The Russian avant-garde, flourishing in the early 20th century, remains a highly sought-after but also problematic area of the art market. The political turmoil and social upheaval of the era, coupled with the subsequent suppression of modernist art under Stalin, created a complex landscape regarding provenance and documentation. This has made the market particularly vulnerable to forgeries and misattributions, requiring rigorous due diligence and expert analysis to navigate successfully. ```