Ashmolean bids to save Manet painting for nation

Dr Christopher Brown and European art curator Colin Harrison with the painting Dr Christopher Brown and European art curator Colin Harrison with the painting

OXFORD’S Ashmolean Museum is mounting a campaign to save an Impressionist masterpiece.

An export ban on the painting has been extended until August by Culture Minister and Wantage MP Ed Vaizey to give the Ashmolean time to raise money to buy Edouard Manet’s Portrait of Mademoiselle Claus, left, painted in 1868.

The painting has already been sold to a foreign buyer for £28.35m, but under tax rules the Ashmolean would be able to buy it for £7.83m.

Museum director Dr Christopher Brown said: “This is one of the most important pictures of the 19th century. It would be an enormous disappointment if it could not be saved for the nation.”

Comments(6)

Dilligaf2010 says...
7:06pm Tue 28 Feb 12

This is one of the reasons the country is in the mess it's in, £7.83m for a painting, how many houses could the same amount build, or how many jobs could be saved?

John Lamb says...
10:13pm Tue 28 Feb 12

What tax rules are these then?

John Lamb says...
10:15pm Tue 28 Feb 12

Any one who knows anything about painting will know this is a fake - the guy's name was MONET for God's sake!
:)

Your_Kidding says...
7:00am Wed 29 Feb 12

What a waste of money, the pictures not that good.

How can a picture be 'important' has it helped mankind in any way other than to cover a bare wall ??

Dilligaf2010 says...
8:54am Wed 29 Feb 12

John Lamb wrote:
Any one who knows anything about painting will know this is a fake - the guy's name was MONET for God's sake!
:)
I think you're confusing him with Claude Monet, Edouard Manet did exist.....;)

eatmygoal says...
11:19am Wed 29 Feb 12

A fair bit of inverted snobbery going on here! £8m is a drop in the ocean when you compare it to the hundreds of millions of pounds we spend each year in this country on producing **** disposable TV, paying footballers etc in the name of entertainment.

The only difference here is that the painting will be an investment and will make money for the Ashmolean by generating sponsorship from private business, as well as increase in value just by hanging on a wall.

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