News emerged last week that the long-awaited sale of Joan Miró paintings formerly owned by disgraced Portuguese bank BPN will cost the government more than €46 million. The value of the 85 works has been over-estimated, claims Correio da Manhã newspaper. Undaunted, however – and despite an 8,500-strong petition against the sale – power-makers are hell-bent on off-loading the collection, insisting that the proceeds will bring “advantage” for taxpayers.
Reporting on the upcoming auction at Christie’s in London next month, Correio da Manhã claims that the Miró works have “already cost the treasury more than €82.5 million”.
With Christie’s valuation coming in at €35.9 million (around 30 million pounds sterling), the newspaper points out that if the paintings are sold for this value “the State will still lose €46.6 million”.
It adds that overall the paintings’ “maintenance” costs the government a whopping €4.3 million per year, with just the annual cost of insurance standing at €46,800.
But there seems to be a complete absence of explanation as to why the paintings were given their initial exorbitant evaluation when BPN was nationalised in the banking debacle of 2008.
Previewing the collection for Associated Press recently, journalist Jill Lawless described it as a “trove” and one of the “most extensive and impressive offerings of works by the artist ever to come to auction”.
The paintings cover seven decades of the Spanish surrealist’s extraordinary career, and include some important canvases, like the 1968 “Women and Birds”.
Is the Portuguese government hoping for a miracle? After all, the current auction record for a Miró is almost $37 million (Blue Star, sold by Sotheby’s auction house in 2012). It remains to be seen whether another record can be pulled out of the hat when bidding opens on February 4 and 5 in London.
Meantime, culture buffs throughout Portugal are against the sale. A petition started earlier this month – which this week registered more than 8,700 signatures – has already been sent to the European Parliament, while Lisbon gallerist Cabral Nunes of the “Colectivo Multimédia Perve” has warned that as far as he is aware the paintings have not been subject to the “regular procedure” for art works leaving the country.
“There is a question here that has to be explained fully by the Parliament,” he told Correio da Manhã.
The Miró collection was purchased by the State’s two companies, Parvalorem and Parups, designed to clean-up what has been dubbed “the toxic activities” of the disgraced BPN bank.
The petition can be found at http://peticaopublica.com/pview.aspx?pi=joanmiro
Government set to lose €46.6 million on BPN paintings
