China wants to recover their treasures
ARTinvestment.RU   09 ноября 2008

Representatives of cultural organizations in China have expressed their disagreement with the auction sale of two bronze sculptures from the collection of Yves Saint Laurent, who in 1860 were taken from the summer residence of the Chinese Emperor

Representatives of cultural organizations in China have made several statements in connection with the forthcoming auction sale of national treasures of their country. These are the two bronze sculptures, once decorating the fountain Yuanminyuan the imperial palace, which was looted and burned by Anglo-French troops in 1860, at the end of the second opium war. These two sculptures, made in the form of heads of rats and rabbits, were subsequently acquired by the French couturier Yves Saint-Laurent (Ives Saint Laurent) to his collection. However, after the designer's death in June of this year, his companion, Pierre Berger (Pierre Berge), decided to sell the entire collection, and proceeds to transfer the money to charity. Lots of art and antiques, including bronze sculpture from the Chinese Palace (the cost of each is estimated to be about 8-10 million euros), will go under the hammer at Christie's auction at the end of February 2009 . Representatives include the auction house as a whole to gain from the sale of collections by Yves Saint Laurent from 200 to 300 million euros.

Destruction Yuanminyuanya - the summer residence of Emperor Tsyanluna, often described as the «East Versailles», - to this day remains one of the most tragic events in Chinese history, while the fate of the treasures stored there is still cause for much debate.

To prove that the sculpture had been removed illegally from China, it is very difficult - recognize employees of cultural institutions in China. Moreover, representatives of the auction house Christie's claim that the two lots have a legal origin. China has repeatedly asked to return the sculpture. Reported that even negotiations that redeem them in private, but 200 million yuan (18 million pounds) - as much demanded by the Chinese organizations, have been exorbitant sum.

«It's as simple robbery - said in an interview to journalists Tszun Tyanlyan (Zong Tianliang), representative of the administration of the garden Yuanminyuan. - Two hundred million yuan - huge amounts of money, which has neither a simple man and no ordinary organization ». He also added: «We certainly respect the business rules of the auction companies, as well as the modalities of the art market. But put to bid good looted during the war, simply unacceptable ».

Nude Syanfen (Niu Xianfeng), deputy head of the Fund for the return of lost cultural values of China, stated that representatives of the fund tried to return the sculpture in 2003 and 2004, negotiated with the agents. But those demanded «unreasonable and unacceptable» the amount of $ 10 million (6 million pounds) for each object.

In 2000, the China Poly Group Corporation bought the bronze head of a monkey and a tiger, and in 2004 - the bull, paid in the 600-1 200 thousand pounds each. In 2003, the Fund for the return of lost cultural property from an American collector bought the bronze boar in about 1 million dollars. And in September last year, a businessman from Hong Kong bought the horse's head for 5.5 million pounds and handed it to the gift of the Chinese nation. Thus, five animals had returned to their homeland. It is likely that the two sculptures held in the collections of Yves Saint Laurent - the last remaining copies, because experts fear that the remaining five can be eliminated.

material produced Catherine Onuchin

Sources: guardian.co . uk , chinadaily.com.cn , artinvestment.ru