The Honorable Vice President Richard B. Cheney
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Vice President Cheney:

I am writing to you on behalf of my husband Alex Zhdanov, a prominent artist from the Former Soviet Union. We are appealing to you as a last resort to solve the problem of "Picturegate", which has lasted for many years.

The problem concerns a gift of 1,500 original artworks by Alex Zhdanov to the United States during the fall of the Soviet Union. During this turbulent time in my former country's history, my husband's gift to your Nation never graced the Has of the Smithsonian as we had hoped, but instead have been left to the mercy of fate in Moscow. This is a highly personal issue for my husband and me, because my husband's works are like his children and he is deeply disturbed by their misappropriation which has contributed to his poor health. Furthermore, we feel that our legal rights have been violated due to the loss of intellectual property and creator's rights.

Since our forced deportation from the Former Soviet Union 15 years ago, we have repeatedly requested for assistance from the U.S. Department of State, which had primarily approved the acceptance of the gift. Despite our pleas, no diplomatic measures whatsoever have been taken by the State Department to resolve this issue. In addition, officials of the former Presidential Administration avoided the constructive solution to the situation in their formal correspondence. In my opinion, this inaction by the U.S. government is unacceptable and has caused me to distrust government officials.

I appeal to you, Mr. Cheney, because I consider you to be a highly principled public servant who realizes the potential value of this gift to the American people. I respectfully request the following actions to be taken on behalf of the U.S. and my husband:

A U.S. representative contact Mr. Alexander Vershbow, who is the responsible Russian Official for delivering this property to your government. Secondly, if the pictures are recovered, then I request that 100 of the original paintings be returned to my husband as a compensation for his pain and suffering. Lastly, it would personally mean a great deal to my husband to receive a letter from your government expressing gratitude for his generous gift.