Major Picasso work could be lost to UK
Child with a Dove painting could be sold to a private buyer overseas
A Picasso expert has said that “everything possible should be done to save” Picasso’s 1901 painting, Child with a Dove, for the nation.
The work, which is housed at the Courtauld Gallery in London, is set to be sold through Christie’s auction house to a private buyer.
The painting, which is owned by the Aberconway family, is believed to be worth about £50m. Lynda Morris, of Norwich University College of the Arts, who co-curated Tate Liverpool’s Picasso: Peace and Freedom show in 2010, said the picture was the “most important Picasso painting in Britain”.
The work is currently on display in Picasso and Modern British Art at Tate Britain in London. Christie’s will have to delay any sale for three months, while UK museums and galleries are given the opportunity to bid. If there is no interest, the government may place a temporary export bar on the work.
When asked if the Courtauld Gallery would campaign to keep Child with a Dove in the UK, a spokeswoman said it was monitoring the situation.
As Museums Journal went to press, the Art Fund said that no UK museum had approached it to discuss raising funds for the work.
Tim Knox, director of the Sir John Soane’s Museum in London, said there was “not enough cash in the system” to buy the painting, following the acquisition of Titian’s Diana and Callisto for £45m last month by the National Gallery in London and the National Galleries of Scotland.
The National Gallery allocated £25m from its charitable reserves, mainly from legacies left by the public. The Heritage Lottery Fund contributed £3m, £2m was provided by the Art Fund while £15m came from donations and grants from organisations such as the Rothschild Foundation.
“[Diana and Callisto] is one of the greatest pictures in Britain, and if the National Gallery has these reserves, let it use them,” added Knox. “But you can’t have another such emergency coming along less than a month later.”
The work, which is housed at the Courtauld Gallery in London, is set to be sold through Christie’s auction house to a private buyer.
The painting, which is owned by the Aberconway family, is believed to be worth about £50m. Lynda Morris, of Norwich University College of the Arts, who co-curated Tate Liverpool’s Picasso: Peace and Freedom show in 2010, said the picture was the “most important Picasso painting in Britain”.
The work is currently on display in Picasso and Modern British Art at Tate Britain in London. Christie’s will have to delay any sale for three months, while UK museums and galleries are given the opportunity to bid. If there is no interest, the government may place a temporary export bar on the work.
When asked if the Courtauld Gallery would campaign to keep Child with a Dove in the UK, a spokeswoman said it was monitoring the situation.
As Museums Journal went to press, the Art Fund said that no UK museum had approached it to discuss raising funds for the work.
Tim Knox, director of the Sir John Soane’s Museum in London, said there was “not enough cash in the system” to buy the painting, following the acquisition of Titian’s Diana and Callisto for £45m last month by the National Gallery in London and the National Galleries of Scotland.
The National Gallery allocated £25m from its charitable reserves, mainly from legacies left by the public. The Heritage Lottery Fund contributed £3m, £2m was provided by the Art Fund while £15m came from donations and grants from organisations such as the Rothschild Foundation.
“[Diana and Callisto] is one of the greatest pictures in Britain, and if the National Gallery has these reserves, let it use them,” added Knox. “But you can’t have another such emergency coming along less than a month later.”