China demands the return of two works from the collection of Yves Saint Laurent
February 26th, 2009 | by Benedict |A few days before the sale of the collection of Ives Saint Laurent, China had demanded the return of two paintings, two bronze heads representing a rat and a rabbit's head. The two works, created in 700 by the Italian Jesuit Giuseppe Castiglione, were stolen from the Summer Palace in Beijing by Franco-British during the Opium War in 1860.
The heads were part of a fountain-clock made for Emperor Qianlong by the French Jesuit Benoist, the work that had as its theme the twelve Chinese horoscope animal.
Pierre Bergé, life partner of the French fashion designer, has responded to the Chinese government that would restore the works if China had granted freedom to Tibet and had welcomed the Dalai Lama forced from their homes since 1959.
Beijing responded with a team of as many as 81 lawyers to seek restituazione that actually underlies compensation for humiliation never appeased.
Meanwhile, Christie's has continued resulting in the sale of the collection that has broken the previous record of sales, to 375 million euros. The two bronze works were purchased by phone.
Source: rainews.rai.it
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Tags: Contemporary Art , China , France , Refunds
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