Domingos Siqueira's masterpiece, which was approved for export in November by the now-defunct General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, will be the “headline” of the Colnaghi exhibition at TEFAF (European Fine Arts Fair) in Maastricht, which will be held on Monday, the weekly newspaper reported on Monday, 9 Until March 14 pass In your editing Connected. Portuguese-French gallerist Philippe Mendes, whose gallery will also be represented at the gallery in the Netherlands, told PÚBLICO that he is trying to persuade New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, known as the Met, to acquire the Portuguese paintings.
“The only way to save us from the scandal of an important painting like this that appears for sale in Maastricht, and which anyone can buy, is for the work to enter a major international institution, and I would like it to be done,” the gallery owner posits. Another likely candidate is the Louvre, where the gallerist once worked – and where he arranged to display a painting by Josepha Debydos in 2016 – but the Paris museum is said to have shown signs of being unwilling to pay the sums that were paid. It may be on the table. In the export order, the value of the work is estimated at 1.2 million euros.
Felipe Mendes maintains his expectation that negotiations with the New York Museum will reach a successful outcome, but he realizes that they are already on a better path. Public controversy surrounding the departure of the painting, with the Ministry of Culture announcing contacts with the family and assuming its intention to acquire the painting Descending from the cross“This led to the Metropolitan Police fearing that their intervention would lead to a diplomatic incident,” says the gallery owner.
Mendes also appears to fear that the MC – who commissioned the new Portuguese Archeology Museum to try to negotiate with the owner – will not adhere to his intention and may even try to acquire the work. “After not buying them when they could have, I hope they will not now go to Maastricht to pay three times the amount just because they are angry and want to show that they are politically capable of doing so,” says the gallery owner. “If you have the money to do it, let the painting go to a big international museum and buy a good Spanish, French or Italian painting,” he suggests, arguing that foreigners do not go to the National Museum of Ancient Art (MNAA) just to see a Portuguese painting. “They go to see Goya, El Greco, and Canaletto, not because of some other Sequeira.”
Defending that the country “cannot want to keep everything Portuguese and must allow these important paintings to go to major international museums,” Felipe Mendes admits that in this particular case, “it would make sense” for the MNAA to try to bring together the four paintings he painted. Siqueira is at the end of his life, especially since he already has her preparatory cards, but he believes that “the mistake has already been made” and it is better now to make sure that Descending from the cross You'll end up in an institution where you help honor Portuguese painting.
Attend the Descending from the cross The Maastricht exhibition is anticipated with some interest by the specialized press. Hey pass He cites, among other publications, Ars Magazinewho calls Domingos Siqueira “The Portuguese Goya” and “a key figure in Portuguese art in the nineteenth century,” describing the painting as “one of the jewels of the Lisbon painter,” in which he “presents… Master class From the brushstrokes, highlights and gestures of dozens of characters represented.”
In an article signed by journalist Christiana Martins and the newspaper's correspondent in Madrid, Angel Luis de la Calle, he pointed out that the announcement of the painting's arrival in the Netherlands in March may indicate another irregularity in the export process, since Colnaghi's representative in Madrid is explicitly mentioned as a destination for the temporary export of the work, Which will last for one year and will include the “possibility of selling”. But what is strange is the reporter's truth pass After that I went to Colnaghi's three addresses in Madrid and was not found Descending from the cross In any of them.
The gallery was established in London, has branches in New York and advertises several spaces in the Spanish capital, but the application submitted to the DGPC indicates that the destination of the work is Colnaghi Spain Fine Art, in the Madrid suburb of Leganés, where Ángel Luis de la Calle discovered the building, in “ A lower-middle-class residential area,” it showed no signs of “being able to function even as a warehouse.” He had no better luck at the other two addresses: one building was closed for business and the other was an antique shop, also closed, and neither had any sign or plaque linking it to Colnaghi. It is not known, therefore, where Descending from the crossBut it seems plausible that they are already stored in Maastricht awaiting exhibition.
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