Masterpiece By Bernardo Bellotto Purchased By London National Gallery Consequent To Temporary Export Bar

Co-authored by Dr. Linda Roland Danil.

Introduction

Art export laws are designed to prevent art and artifacts of significant cultural value from leaving its country of origin while also preserving the home country's competitiveness in the international art market. Many countries have struggled with striking the right balance: Germany's recent amendment to its cultural heritage protection law in June 2016 was fiercely opposed by the country's private collectors and art dealers who are now required to obtain an export license for works older than 50 years that are valued over £150,000. Italy sought to achieve balance between government and individual interests by increasing the threshold for artworks from 50 to 70 years under its amendment passed in August 2017. The following article written by Dr. Linda Roland Danil explores the UK's efforts to resolve these competing interests—as complicated by the post-Brexit exchange rate—in the context of the recent, successful export ban on Bernardo Bellotto's masterpiece, The Fortress of Königstein from the North.

The Purchase

The purchase by the London National Gallery in August 20171 of a painting by the Venetian artist Bernardo Bellotto (1722 - 1780) - the nephew of Giovanni Antonio Canal, or Canaletto - who, like Bellotto, painted, amongst other things, 'vedute' or views of landscapes) - was achieved consequent to the imposition of a temporary export bar2 that allowed the National Gallery to raise the necessary funds to match the £11 million offer by a private buyer. (The National Gallery actually paid £11, 670,000 - the additional £670,000 reflected the fall in the value of the pound after the Brexit referendum).3

The painting, The Fortress of Königstein from the North (c. 1756 - 58), was one of a series of five, large-scale paintings commissioned by Augustus III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, and depicts the renovated medieval fortress in the countryside near Dresden, Germany.4 The retention of the painting in the UK is a clear example of how the UK export licensing system for cultural goods - which has been described as one of the best in the world5 - works. The system provides that for certain cultural goods, such as those above a certain financial threshold (but not exclusively) and over 50 years of age, an individual licence is required for export. This provides the opportunity for the UK to retain cultural goods that have been deemed to be of outstanding national importance6 that...