The Art Newspaper reports that Britain’s National Gallery and the Prince of Liechtenstein are at loggerheads over the Old Master work that’s been caught in an export license battle. Selling the work doesn’t seem to be the issue. It’s price that’s the sticking point even though the Prince seems to be benefiting from the falling British pound:
The National Gallery’s attempt to buy the Prince of Liechtenstein’s Sánchez Coello painting is deadlocked because no agreement can be reached on the price. Instead, Prince Hans-Adam II is willing to lend the Portrait of the Infante Don Diego (1577) to the gallery, since he wants it to be on public view and is presently unable to get a UK export licence to send it to his museum in Vienna.
The National Gallery is offering £2m, the sum originally paid for the Coello by the Prince in 2006. However, the exchange rate of the Swiss franc (the currency used in Liechtenstein) has fallen, so this sum is now the equivalent of £2.5m for the Prince, the price he is now asking for.
London’s National Gallery and Liechtenstein Prince fail to agree on price for Coello masterpiece (The Art Newspaper)
