Italians Star in London As Industry Lobbies Milan to Loosen Laws, Improve Market

The top lots in London this week are two Fontana La Fine di Dio works. Meanwhile, the ATG reports that a group of interested parties are working behind the scenes to get Italy to steamline its cultural heritage laws in the hopes of improving access to works so valued by the global market:

This group of key art market players, advised by Milanese art lawyers CBM & Partners who have drafted the amendment, include the Associazione Antiquari d’Italia, the Italian Association of Modern and Contemporary Art Galleries, auction houses Bolaffi (Turin), Minerva (Rome), Il Ponte (Milan) and Finarte (Milan) plus Artcurial (Paris), Christie’s and Sotheby’s. […]

The proposals aimed at reversing these fortunes include a financial threshold below which items could be sold to international buyers without the need for red tape. This amendment would finally bring Italy in line with other EU countries after more than a century of protectionism.

The group of dealers and auctioneers is also hoping to streamline procedures when processing those items that would still require export licences. It wants to amend a law dictating that any work created more than 50 years ago by a dead artist requires an export licence, regardless of its market price.

The suggestion is to extend the term to 75 or 100 years – something that would benefit the Modern and Contemporary market in particular.

Source: Italian trade lobby to change export laws : Antiques trade gazette