Britain Struggles to Keep its Art at Home

Following the recent budget-busting acquisition of Titian‘s Diana and Callisto, Britain now faces the possibility of losing two further masterpieces to foreign buyers:  Edouard Manet‘s Portrait of Mademoiselle Claus and Picasso’s Child with a Dove.

Two major British art galleries raised 45 million pounds ($72 million) to buy the Titian masterpiece that had been in the U.K. for 200 years and keep it on public display — a purchase touted as a substantial cultural victory in tough economic times. National Gallery Director Nicholas Penny said the purchase had used up most of the gallery’s 32 million pound reserve fund, accumulated from a century of bequests. “It’s true we’ve depleted our resources very considerably by the acquisition,” he said. “But if we hadn’t taken this opportunity I think we would diminish our chances of further bequests in the future. “I know some people might think, why not buy 10 lesser things, but I think the National Gallery was founded primarily as a collection of great masterpieces.” The purchase means the painting will be reunited with its companion piece, Diana and Actaeon, which the two galleries bought for 50 million pounds in 2009. The prices, agreed with owner, the Duke of Sutherland, are only about a third of what the paintings have been estimated to be worth on the open market. Robert Korzinek, a fine art underwriter at insurer Hiscox, said the paintings are among a select group of artworks whose market value is potentially sky-high. “These incredibly rare pictures so infrequently come to market, and when they do, there are oil-rich nations that are seeking to put masterpieces on the walls of their museums, and they have infinite buying power,” he said. “It has totally reset prices.” http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=53938

The Manet

Dr Christopher Brown CBE, Director of the Ashmolean, said of the Manet, “This is one of the most important pictures of the 19th century…The £7.83 million, though a substantial sum to be found, is a mere fraction of the picture’s actual worth and it would therefore be an enormous disappointment if it could not be saved for the nation.

“Its purchase would, at a stroke, transform the Ashmolean’s representation of Impressionist painting.”

The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology already owns and exhibits 19th century works, including paintings by Pissarro, sculpture by Degas and a drawing of Manet’s famous work ‘Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe’.

Manet is considered to be one of the most important painters of the 19th century, and many art historians believe him to have been the first innovator behind the Modernist movement. Only a handful of his works reside in UK collections.

The decision, which provides a last chance to raise the money needed to keep the picture in the country, comes after a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest.

Committee member Lowell Libson said: ”Manet, one of the most important painters of the 19th century, had a profound influence on the development of Impressionism and this painting demonstrates his ability to innovate while working with a framework of historical reference and allusion.  More Information: http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=53938[/url]