Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Qatar Gets Foiled on One Work

March 8, 2011 by Marion Maneker

The Getty Museum is celebrating the arrival of its Turner that finally got an export license. The good burghers of Qatar didn’t have quite the same luck with their 2009 purchase from Britain that Georgina Adam says is still in Britain and likely to be the subject of a long stalemate:

William Hoare’s 1773 portrait of a freed Muslim slave, Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, […] the QMA bought for £555,000 at Christie’s in 2009. An export licence was deferred and the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) managed to raise this sum last year. Generally, the buyer gracefully agrees to relinquish its prize but in this case QMA withdrew its application for export and refused to sell: it can reapply in 10 years’ time. In the meantime it is loaning the portrait to the NPG.

This is by no means the only example of buyers refusing to sell when British institutions manage to match the price. Stephen Deuchar, director of The Art Fund, has called for tightening up of the rules, for example by making buyers sign an agreement to accept a matching offer.

The Art Market: A Gulf Opens Up (Financial Times)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Grand Rapids’ Artprize Gets Mugged by the NYTimesGrand Rapids’ Artprize Gets Mugged by the NYTimes
  • The Elgin Marbles Debate on PBSThe Elgin Marbles Debate on PBS
  • Records for Ed Clark, Firelei Báez Bring Sotheby’s Mid-Season Contemporary Sale to $24 M.Records for Ed Clark, Firelei Báez Bring Sotheby’s Mid-Season Contemporary Sale to $24 M.
  • New Buyers with New Money Push Christie’s Contemporary Sale to New HeightsNew Buyers with New Money Push Christie’s Contemporary Sale to New Heights
  • Indian Art Summit OpensIndian Art Summit Opens
  • American Folk Art Museum Chooses LifeAmerican Folk Art Museum Chooses Life

Filed Under: General

About Marion Maneker

LiveArt

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor