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One of Marc Chagall’s grandchildren on Tuesday called the National Gallery of Canada’s decision to keep the late painter’s La Tour Eiffel in its collection a win for democracy, and hoped the work would soon be displayed on the gallery’s walls.
“We are, as are most people, relieved by the decision,” said Meret Meyer, who is also vice-president of the Marc Chagall Committee in Paris, which upholds the late Russian-French painter’s reputation.
On April 24, Meyer wrote Marc Mayer, the National Gallery’s director and CEO, to voice her disapproval of the gallery’s plan to sell La Tour Eiffel. Meyer’s letter stood out in the outcry that for weeks had opposed the sale, which was to have taken place at the Christie’s auction house in New York on May 15.
On April 26, the gallery’s board of trustees announced that the gallery would retain La Tour Eiffel after all. In so doing, the board contradicted Mayer, who several days earlier supported auctioning off the Chagall for as much as an estimated $9 million US to bolster the gallery’s acquisitions budget.
Previously, the sale of the Chagall had been earmarked to provide funds to purchase the 1779 painting Saint Jerome Hears the Trumpet of the Last Judgment by the French painter Jacques-Louis David. But an April 23 decision by Quebec’s minister of culture, classifying the David painting a provincial heritage document, effectively blocked the National Gallery’s efforts to acquire it.
Meyer said she was heartened that Canadians who opposed the proposed sale had spoken out. “It’s a really good point for democracy,” she said. “One has to honour the citizens, that they did not take it for granted, simply to say that it’s only an art work,” said Meyer.
She likened the public outcry to a wake-up call for governments. “Really, it was kind of a ringing of the bell, that one cannot do things without questioning or asking the citizens … They really were concerned by their property … it’s not a matter of economics, but a matter of their identity.”
Meyer said that she has not yet received a reply from Mayer to her letter, or any communication from the National Gallery since last week’s decision was announced. Meyer, who was present in 2017 for the opening and closing of the well-attended Chagall exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, said she had learned from media reports and messages from Canadians that La Tour Eiffel would not be sold.
She reiterated that La Tour Eiffel, which was acquired by the gallery more than 60 years ago following the Second World War, should remain in Canada to manifest a message of peace and tolerance.
“That’s probably the biggest message that one can learn about it. The artwork is having the last word … with its universal message … in favour of living all together and teaching tolerance, through the symbol of freedom of the Eiffel Tower,” she said.
The gallery has not said whether the Chagall painting, which in recent years has sat in storage, will be put on display. Meyer said she hopes that exhibiting La Tour Eiffel once again will help bring calm after the crisis of its proposed sale.
“It’s a pity,” Meyer said. “Maybe all that had to happen so that La Tour Eiffel can finally radiate on a wall in order to be admired and speak on its own.”
phum@postmedia.com
twitter.com/peterhum
查看原文...
“We are, as are most people, relieved by the decision,” said Meret Meyer, who is also vice-president of the Marc Chagall Committee in Paris, which upholds the late Russian-French painter’s reputation.
On April 24, Meyer wrote Marc Mayer, the National Gallery’s director and CEO, to voice her disapproval of the gallery’s plan to sell La Tour Eiffel. Meyer’s letter stood out in the outcry that for weeks had opposed the sale, which was to have taken place at the Christie’s auction house in New York on May 15.
On April 26, the gallery’s board of trustees announced that the gallery would retain La Tour Eiffel after all. In so doing, the board contradicted Mayer, who several days earlier supported auctioning off the Chagall for as much as an estimated $9 million US to bolster the gallery’s acquisitions budget.
Previously, the sale of the Chagall had been earmarked to provide funds to purchase the 1779 painting Saint Jerome Hears the Trumpet of the Last Judgment by the French painter Jacques-Louis David. But an April 23 decision by Quebec’s minister of culture, classifying the David painting a provincial heritage document, effectively blocked the National Gallery’s efforts to acquire it.
Meyer said she was heartened that Canadians who opposed the proposed sale had spoken out. “It’s a really good point for democracy,” she said. “One has to honour the citizens, that they did not take it for granted, simply to say that it’s only an art work,” said Meyer.
She likened the public outcry to a wake-up call for governments. “Really, it was kind of a ringing of the bell, that one cannot do things without questioning or asking the citizens … They really were concerned by their property … it’s not a matter of economics, but a matter of their identity.”
Meyer said that she has not yet received a reply from Mayer to her letter, or any communication from the National Gallery since last week’s decision was announced. Meyer, who was present in 2017 for the opening and closing of the well-attended Chagall exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, said she had learned from media reports and messages from Canadians that La Tour Eiffel would not be sold.
She reiterated that La Tour Eiffel, which was acquired by the gallery more than 60 years ago following the Second World War, should remain in Canada to manifest a message of peace and tolerance.
“That’s probably the biggest message that one can learn about it. The artwork is having the last word … with its universal message … in favour of living all together and teaching tolerance, through the symbol of freedom of the Eiffel Tower,” she said.
The gallery has not said whether the Chagall painting, which in recent years has sat in storage, will be put on display. Meyer said she hopes that exhibiting La Tour Eiffel once again will help bring calm after the crisis of its proposed sale.
“It’s a pity,” Meyer said. “Maybe all that had to happen so that La Tour Eiffel can finally radiate on a wall in order to be admired and speak on its own.”
phum@postmedia.com
twitter.com/peterhum
查看原文...
