The government has opened an auction of two paintings by Claude Monet for more than 90 million dollars

The national government has opened a public auction to sell four paintings made by masters of contemporary art, among which: Claude Monet. French paintings, belonging to the famous series of "Nympheas" (Water Lilies), will be offered at a base value of 50 and 42 million dollars, According to a notice published today in the Official Journal.

The paintings do not belong to the national state -The sale of this type of objects is prohibited when they belong to their heritage-. However, the current regulations allow for a special procedure so that, before works of great artistic value leave the country, it is possible to find a local buyer.

Entitled "Nymphéas", the oldest painting dates from 1904 and measures 90 x 92 cm, for a value of 50 million dollars. The other version is dated 1908. Its dimensions are 90.2 cm high and 87.6 cm wide. Both belong to the last working period of Monet, when the author has settled with his family in a farm making known the garden of Giverny.

The other two pieces are Still life with blue jug ("Still life with blue pot"), Maurice De Vlaminckand The Andelys Port Morin (The port Morín de Andelys), Paul Signac. Both date from 1906 and 1886 and are valued at $ 5 and $ 3.5 million, respectively.

According to the text of the appeal, the the state of conservation of the paintings is "good""

"The impressionist art is a finished product. This is a notification for the art market that there is a paradigmatic work of international order in the country and that it could be in the museums of the Louvre or Orsay, "he said. Infobae Florencia Agra, who has more than 10 years of experience in the auction of works of art and is a professor at the University of El Salvador (USAL) in the field of evaluation badets and history of art.

A unique work that could be sold abroad

The auction of Claude Monet comes after the regulatory changes advocated by the national government last year and which have reached the art market. The amendments went hand in hand with the "state bureaucracy" emergency and necessity decree (DNU), which deleted and simplified procedures in different commercial activities, including "international circulation of works of art".

The auction will be governed by the terms of this DNU (Law 27 444), which establishes a mechanism for works of art acquired or purchased. to have offers from legal or natural persons of foreign origin.

For the collection specialist Daniela from the ground, licensed in management and history of art by USAL, owner of the painting of Monet "try to get him out of the country and sell him abroad"With the auction, the coin is opened for the coin to be acquired by a national resident and thus remains on the national territory.

The artistic criteria to achieve this type of sale is evaluated by an advisory council integrated by the Ministry of Culture, the National Museum of Fine Arts, the National Academy of Fine Arts, the General Administration of Customs, the National Arts Fund, the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Chancellery and the General Archives of the nation.

According to the market regulations, when the buyer is non-resident, The interested party will have to inform on the website Trámites a Distancia (TAD) a "export notice"For the works of Argentine or foreign artists living or dead 50 years ago, it is a simple document that must be presented to the customs authorities in case they need it.

In works such as those of Claude Monet, where the author – known or unknown, national or foreign – died more than 50 years ago, ask for a "export license"This is the case of the operations of the masters of plastic art that are on sale today, and the authorities have halted the purchase because of the possibility that it exists" an interest in buying from the national state or third Argentine residents ".

"If no one offers the amount of the auction, the work can leave the country. But if someone buys, the work stays in the country, which is a good option as it can be loaned for temporary exhibitions or museums, "said De la Rez.

Before these changes occurred in the system, an artist, gallerist or tourist faced complex paperwork to take a piece of art to another country. Once the process started, it took 72 hours to obtain customs approval. This bureaucracy was a source of complaints and grievances from sector operators.

A break in the art world

Claude Monet is one of the founding fathers of the impressionist movement, one of the fundamental benchmarks of the plastic arts. The artistic works that will be sold in the federal capital are part of this historical and cultural heritage, whose most representative work is exhibited in Paris, the museum of the Tuileries Orangery.

The work of the "Nymphéas" fits in a context of boom theories of color and light spectrum. Talented artists such as the French painter but also intellectuals of German stature Johann Wolfgang von Goethe were inspired by their work to develop this knowledge.

"Impressionism is the first great break in the pictorial movement. It's a reflection on oneself, think about how you paint yourself. The impressionists do not want to tell a story, but how light affects reality or nature, as in the case of Monet, "he said. Infobae Rosana Leonardi, Bachelor of Arts and Professor of History of Culture 1 Chair of the National University of Tres de Febrero (Untref).

"Monet builds a pond to observe the water lilies." These paintings are not only important for the history of art, but also They carry this poetic idea of ​​the artist who contemplates and rejoices with nature. For some, the Nympheas they would be the announcement of abstract art. Monet's work is a before and after, "Leonardi said.

According to Florencia Agra, among the rich clbades of the early twentieth century there was a tendency to collect this type of impressionist paintings. Over time, the acquired works were sold until the fifties.

"It's been many years since an impressionistic work was sold in the country. I do not know any recent information regarding a public sale of this magnitude, "said the expert.

Offers on the Monet table must be submitted in a closed envelope in white within 30 working days in front of the National Directorate of Cultural Properties and Sites, which is under the Ministry of Culture, located on Alvear Avenue 1690 in Buenos Aires.

The prize will be awarded within three business days of the end of the call. The costs of transfer from the work to the delivery will be borne by the buyer, as it appears from the notice published by Claudia Cabouli, holder of the National Directorate of Goods and Cultural Sites.