The Los Angeles Times reports that the UK government has granted an export license for W.M.F. Turner’s Modern Rome–Camp Vaccino which the Getty had bought at auction for nearly $45 million:
An agent for the Getty picked up the export license that seals the deal for “Modern Rome — Campo Vaccino” from the British culture ministry at the opening of business Thursday, said David Bomford, the museum’s acting director, and a copy of the certificate arrived by e-mail in the middle of the night.
With that, the museum cleared a hurdle it had tripped over in failed attempts to complete past high-profile purchases from Great Britain.
Under British law, artworks of “special significance” that have been on British soil for more than 50 years can’t be sold and exported without a license — and if a buyer surfaces in Britain who is willing to match what the foreign buyer was willing to pay, that institution or individual gets to cut in like a suitor at a dance, and walk away with the object of affection.
Getty Museum’s $44.9-million purchase of J.M.W. Turner masterpiece is final as sale clears U.K. export hurdle (Los Angeles Times)
