Ilya Glazunov, artist, meet Yury Luzhkov, art critic.


Sure, you know the latter as mayor of Moscow, but did you know His Honor has an eye for art?


"What distinguishes our portraits from other countries' portraits?" the mayor offered rhetorically. "Spanish portraits, French portraits, for example, are different from ours: They have no soul."


Luzhkov was the guest of honor Thursday at the opening of the first building of the Glazunov Academy of the Arts on Ulitsa Myasnitskaya, but it was hard to tell which was more important.


Never mind that a new art institute was opening in Moscow. Never mind that a prerevolutionary academy had been lovingly restored by an Italian company. And never mind the works of oil and ink that adorned the walls. The mayor stole the show, trailing a suffocating throng of cameras, microphones and notebooks behind him.


Luzhkov had kind words for Glazunov, a realist painter whose work arouses considerable controversy for its overtly nationalist and perceived racist tones.


"I am convinced that in a short time, realism, as a basic movement in painting, will return and dominate the world. These little squares and little circles, they get boring," he said, casually dismissing mod ern art. "I am certain that most people who ooh and aah at all these little circles and little squares have no idea what they're looking at."


"Bravo! Bravo!" Glazunov shrieked, grabbing a microphone from a television reporter to squeeze in a few words.


He said the mayor is a man of inexhaustible energy, and is an example for all: "Today, everyone, even under these horrible conditions, can and is obligated to serve the Fatherland," Glazunov said.


"The proof is that today, we are opening this grand building of the painting department in the struggle for the ideals of our civilization and the great Russian culture. Long live Russia the Great," he said.


There was a moment of modesty. Luzhkov confessed he does not have a background in art, but only his impressions. The most important thing, he said, was to know enough to decide which artistic projects to support.


The academy, open under the auspices of the Culture Ministry is a sumptuous confection of marble floors, carved moldings and high technology. Glazunov did not want to discuss the cost.


"It cost 10 liters of my blood," he said. "How much do you think that is worth?"


A representative for the Italian construction firm Codest said the initial cost was 15 billion lira (about $10 million). But he did not know the final cost.


The academy building has had many uses over the years, and at one time housed the institute where Nobel Prize winning physicist Andrei Sakharov worked.


Thursday afternoon, art student Alexei Kanayev was trying to work, too. All the commotion, he said, "doesn't really help, but it's wonderful to see the mayor."