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Portuguese railway workers block the rail track at the Santa
Apolonia station in Lisbon on Tuesday during a protest against austerity
measures. Zuma Press
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EUROPE NEWS
Christie's Pulls Auction of Joan Miró Art After Uproar
Portugal's Plan to Sell Works to Cut Debt Spurs Outcry
By MARY M. LANE and PATRICIA KOWSMANN
Feb. 4, 2014 8:31 p.m. ET / http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304851104579363290765771828?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304851104579363290765771828.html
Christie's has withdrawn 85 artworks by Spanish surrealist
Joan Miró from its auctions in London this week, after an uproar in Portugal
over the government's move to sell the works in an attempt to cut its debt.
The decision, announced on Tuesday just hours before the
Impressionist, Modern and Surrealist evening sale, represents a blow to
Portugal's coffers—as well as an embarrassment for one of the world's largest
auction houses during the most important time of year for the London art
market.
While the planned auction would shave off only a tiny
fraction of Portugal's more than €200 billion in debt, the flap surrounding it
underscores the challenges Europe's most fragile economies continue to face in
curing debt hangovers.
Southern European countries have for the past two years
slashed spending and raised taxes to lower their budget deficits and ease fears
of debt defaults. Austerity drives that have cut social benefits have proven
immensely unpopular, as have efforts to shed cultural assets, such as Greece's
bid to sell islands, palaces and other icons. In the U.S., a similar outcry has
erupted in Detroit as the bankrupt city sought a valuation on a collection at
the Detroit Institute of Arts.
In Portugal, many have seen the government's move as
disrespectful toward its art heritage, particularly because revenue from the
sale would have been insignificant. A government official on Tuesday said that
Portugal needed the money to balance its finances and would have to find it
somewhere, if not from the sale.
The 85 Miró works, valued around $49 million in total, range
in estimated value from $16,300 to $11.4 million. They became state property
after a failing bank, Banco Português de Negócios, was nationalized in 2008.
After receiving a $105 billion international bailout in
2011, debt-stricken Portugal vowed to cut spending and sell assets. While the
privatization of several state-owned companies went smoothly, though, the
planned sale of the Miró works raised anger among Portuguese opposition parties
and cultural institutions.
Last month, the main opposition Socialist Party took the
issue to court, requesting the sale be suspended. The country's prosecutor's
office agreed, and on Monday it requested a high court in Lisbon to cancel the
consignment. Early Tuesday, the court ruled against the request but added that
the actual transfer of the pieces to London wasn't done with proper
authorization.
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Christie's withdrew the sale of art by Joan Miró, including
'Femmes et Oiseaux' from 1968, amid outcry over Portugal's plans. National
News/Zuma Press
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The art is currently being stored by Christie's in London,
and Portugal has made no requests to have the works shipped back, according to
a person familiar with the matter. Until now, the dealings between Christie's
and Portuguese officials have been routine, and the court proceedings caught
the house off guard, this person said.
"Christie's is clearly being more reasonable than the
government itself," said Socialist lawmaker Inês de Medeiros.
Jorge Barreto Xavier, Portugal's state secretary of culture,
said the government wasn't responsible for shipping the art, and it is unclear
whether the works will be auctioned at Christie's next set of Impressionist and
Modern sales, held in New York in May.
Christie's announced it was withdrawing the works only hours
before its evening sale at its King Street rooms, which opened London's auction
season.
"We received high, great interest in the Mirós so it is
quite regrettable," said Christie's specialist Giovanna Bertazzoni after
the truncated sale.
Christie's drew controversy last year for its role in the
valuation of works at the Detroit Institute of Arts owned by the bankrupt city,
including van Gogh's "Self Portrait" and Bruegel's "The Wedding
Dance." The auction house estimated the value of the city-purchased
portion of the world-class collection between $454 million and $867 million.
But the valuation was criticized by some of the city's creditors who argued the
process left out millions of dollars worth of other artwork at the institute.
The city under an emergency manager said all of the city's
assets including its art could be sold to settle $18 billion in long-term
obligations. But in recent weeks, private foundations and the state of Michigan
have pledged over $800 million in an attempt to preserve the art in the museum
and move control of the collection to a new nonprofit organization.
Most of the Mirós from Portugal were works on paper and
would have been sold in Christie's less prestigious day sales throughout the
week. But 24 works, including the major 1968 oil "Women and Birds,"
estimated at $6.5 million to $11.4 million, and 1953's gargantuan
"Painting," valued at $4.1 million to $5.7 million, would have made
up a sizable portion of Tuesday's sale.
"It certainly wasn't the most exceptional collection,
but it was respectable. There were some nice paintings there," said David
Nahmad, a multibillionaire dealer in town from Monaco for the sale.
Christie's evening auction on Tuesday totaled $288 million,
inside its pre-sale estimate of $223 million to $324 million before the
withdrawal of the Mirós. The Portuguese uproar is significant because a
successful sale of the works by Miró, a major surrealist artist who heavily
influenced Pablo Picasso, would have been a boon to Christie's department of
surrealist art, which it has aggressively expanded in recent months.
"It's quite a blow for Christie's," said New
York-based dealer David Nash before the sale.
The Miró collection, which BPN—the nationalized Portuguese
bank—bought from a Japanese collector in 2006 for an undisclosed amount, was
never shown in Portugal.
Opposition political parties and cultural entities hailed
Christie's decision.
"The Portuguese people should have the right to keep
and enjoy what is now theirs," said Pedro Lapa, art director of the
Berardo Museum in Lisbon.
—Matthew Dolan contributed to this article.
Write to Mary M. Lane at mary.lane@wsj.com and Patricia
Kowsmann at patricia.kowsmann@wsj.com
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