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11/26/2008: "Sacrifice for Cezanne"

The Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia is selling two major works by two Australian artists from it’s collection to raise the remaining funds needed to purchase a painting by Cezanne titled Bords De La Marne. Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Edmund Capon, is the driving force behind the purchase of the work for AUD$16.2 million from a Swiss private collection which will be the most expensive work ever purchase by a gallery in Australia. Having committed to purchasing the work without having all the funds available, Capon and the gallery have had to do everything that they can to raise the extra funds in hurry and have been begging for donations at every opportunity.

The two works being sold to help fund the purchase are Balmoral by Brett Whiteley's and Pleasure Craft John Perceval's both of which are very important works by two of Australia’s most important artists. Apparently the benefactor who donated the pieces has given his blessing to the sale which is all very nice but what would the artist’s think and what would their opinion of the sale be if they were alive today?



It is expected that the price paid for both works at the auction, which is due to take place on the 24th of November, will be considerably lower than if they had been sold six months ago. Capon has even admitted that this is not the ideal time to be selling works of art at auction. By selling these works during a slump in the art market for a lower price it would seem that the sale of these two works has the potential to have a negative effect on the value of the work by both artists which would not reflect well on the gallery.

What concerns me the most is that the Cezanne is being purchased to mark the 30th anniversary of Edmund Capon’s directorship of the gallery. The reason that this concerns me is that two important works of Australian art are being sacrificed in what seems to be a last ditch and desperate effort to secure a work by a non-Australian artist. The whole saga raises the question of whether the gallery has jeopardised the value of the work of two Australian artists just to ensure that Capon gets his anniversary trophy. According to Capon the sale of the two Australian works is not an act of desperation but there is the potential for the market to still perceive the sale to be an act of desperation even if it isn’t. Regardless of the reasoning behind the sale of the paintings I doubt that any artist would want their work to be sold under such circumstances.

I agree that a work by Cezanne will fill a hole in the galleries collection and that Bords De La Marne does seem like a good buy but considering the economic climate and the circumstances in which the work is being purchased, I question whether the purchase of Bords De La Marne at the current time is such a good idea. Capon is quoted in an article from the Sydney Morning Herald as saying "Our timing is obviously not ideal, but there is a degree of urgency from the gallery's point of view - we simply have to pay for the Cezanne," If the gallery is that short of funds then should they have committed to purchasing the work in the first place or should they have waited for a better time to make such a significant purchase?

Image: Bords De La Marne by Cezanne

Replies: 8 Comments

on Saturday, December 20th, Leslie Wilder said

Email me if you have heard of an artist: A Noreay
I have an old Bisque bust of a woman, from my grandmother in Northern Europe.
Thanks!

on Sunday, December 7th, Andrew said

Capon is not spending his own money, but is gaining personally from the acquisition. I think he's been there too long, and should be made to pedal a bit, rather than being allowed through a caveat in his contract to exert so much power over the destinies of so many other people. I find most museum curators to become pompous and self absorbed when they've been somewhere too long.

on Sunday, November 30th, Brenda Saunders said

Well, when the fuss has died down in twenty years time we will all be pleased to have a Cezanne in the State Museum(we call them Galleries in Oz. They carried on a treat about Blue Poles by Jackson Pollack, but now we all agree it was a steal.
As for the Whitely and the Perceval, these are lesser paintings and since the museum (gallery) has several other works by these artists I can understand their actions. It is a curators job to build up a survey of art for the collection ie examples from major movements and influences.

on Friday, November 28th, Ellen said

Last May I went to Sweden to see the work of one of Sweden's most valued painters: Anders Zorn: an incredible impressionist painter. Zorn is considered by many Swedish people their most important painter and EVERYONE in the country to whom I spoke had heard of him. So, a national treasure.... The Swedish National Museum in Stockholm has only two of Zorn's paintings, both of which were in a room being used for storage while a big Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition was in progress. Fortunately, I had an email from the museum advising me that the works by Zorn were on view and I was allowed to see them. I suppose that museum curators are no different from many others who ascribe great value in a "name." Kind of like wearing a shirt imprinted with a designer label. Is the shirt better for the insignia? Is the museum better for a Cezanne?

on Friday, November 28th, Denis said

This is old news. The museum have already bought the Cezanne but have paid over only 85% of the money.In my view, the painting is not of his best work and is highly overated and overpriced. There again the Australian Art Institutions arrived late into the 'crazy' world of investing in Art (ref they overpaid for the mediocre and unoriginal large work of Hockney (5 million dollars) and over 7 million for a Lucian Frued. This is not Art interest/love/preservation for posterity but Art investment by State controlled instituions.

on Thursday, November 27th, Nicholas Forrest said

The Art Gallery of New South Wales is a public museum not a commercial gallery

on Thursday, November 27th, Fashion Jewelry said

This "gallery" is purchasing (read that as selling their soul) a name not a work of art. My subjective opinion (obviously), but why purchase what appears to be a mediocre work by Cezanne instead of many, MANY better works by lesser known artists? I guess I answered my own question. :-(

on Thursday, November 27th, Mark said

The word 'Gallery' is used here but it sounds more like a museum purchase, I am confussed. If it is a museum, well so goes it. If it is a comercial gallery, then why would they ask for donations to help purchase the Cezanne? OH, there is a Rembrant I want to buy, nothing big, a small drawing, but I have no money so will you all donate your money to ME so I may buy it? Come on guys, give a hand. LOL.