Karen Sanig and Michelle Stroube of Art Law have been advising The Klesch Collection on the successful acquisition of a £10,000,000 painting by Botticelli, The Virgin and Child Enthroned, for which Arts Council England had been seeking a UK purchaser to prevent the painting being lost to the nation.
An application had been made for the painting to be permanently exported from the UK, and the application was deferred by the Arts Council in order to give a UK buyer the opportunity to step forward.
Our work on this matter has included intense negotiations with the seller's representative and Sotheby's, as well as liaising with the Arts Council to secure the conditions required of the purchaser in order to be permitted to buy the painting. We have further advised on the temporary export of the painting to be restored in the US to ensure approval for the export.
The next stage will be to negotiate the long-term loan of the Botticelli to the Ashmolean Museum, in order to fulfil the Collection's obligation to make the painting available to the British public.
Read more about this exceptional acquisition.