Selling the Mona Lisa is not reliable, but someone really hits the "she" idea! Can museum collections be sold?

A viral news spread on the domestic Internet: French businessmen suggested that the government sell the Mona Lisa, which is collected by the Louvre, for 50 billion euros in response to the economic downturn caused by the new crown epidemic.

The reporter visited and learned that such a proposal is more like an eye-catching argument, and the feasibility is extremely low. But this suggestion has also aroused the curiosity of many domestic netizens, can the museum's collection really be sold?

"Someone was playing the mona Lisa idea"

"Such an argument is occasionally raised, and everyone laughs at it." The reporter contacted Ms. Chen, a Chinese who works in the art trade in France, and she made it clear that it was "almost impossible". "There are only a few rich people and even countries in the world who can get 50 billion euros, and if it is purchased by the country, the purchase of the Mona Lisa at such a high price will not play a role in the infection and motivation of the artwork to the people." For France, the Mona Lisa attracts millions of visitors every year, and its ability to 'absorb gold' is very strong, and it is also a part of the pride of the French. ”

Some people on the Internet joked that the Mona Lisa was "an Italian woman painted by an Italian man, and it turned out to be a National Treasure of France." Previously, there were italians who proposed that the Mona Lisa should belong to Italy. According to reports, the Mona Lisa was acquired by the King of France and preserved in Fontainebleau, and moved to the Louvre in 1797. It was stolen in August 1911 and recovered two years later from its "hometown" of Italy.

The Mona Lisa was loaned to New York and Washington for 52 days in 1962 and exhibited in Tokyo and Moscow in 1974. On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Louvre in 1994, the French Ministry of Culture said the Mona Lisa would "never leave the Louvre again."

However, Ms. Chen also revealed that some people in the French authorities are indeed "playing the idea of the Mona Lisa". According to reports, in 2018, the French Minister of Culture and Exchange said that he would consider lending the Mona Lisa to the exhibition, which may be included outside France. Behind this view is French President Emmanuel Macron's desire to use France's vast art treasures to show the world France's powerful "soft power".

But many people think that the Mona Lisa can't leave the Louvre. At present, the Mona Lisa, which is placed in front of the Louvre, is equipped with bulletproof glass and covered with an incubator that adjusts humidity and temperature, and the audience can only look out from the police cordon two meters away.

"The Mona Lisa is an oil painting on wood, and the years inevitably erode 'her.'" According to Ms. Chen, even the routine inspection of the Louvre will not move "her" half a step, it is "on-site inspection". "Under such circumstances, if the loan is damaged, it must be a sinner of history."

There are overseas museums "to preserve the collection"

However, it is not news that overseas museum collections have entered the auction market.

In September 2016, Christie's in New York held a special auction of Chinese porcelain from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the museum released 501 pieces of ceramic works from the Gaogu to the Ming and Qing dynasties, most of which came from donations from well-known economists and philanthropists from the 19th to the 20th century, of which the "Yongzheng Pastel Melon Fruit Peony Plate" came from Samuel Putnam Ivanle, one of the founding trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The "Kangxi Su Sancai Travertine Butterfly Pattern Begonia-shaped Amphora Cup" comes from the Rockefeller family.

In reports at the time, Christie's experts in New York said that the collection was put on auction mainly to enrich the museum's purchase funds. All of the collections auctioned are singled out by the museum, most of which are due to the existence of duplicate works or collections of average quality.

Still, the entry of museum collections into the auction market is always a source of great controversy. In August 2017, the Berkshire Museum in Massachusetts, USA, was met with joint protests by local residents, museum workers and enthusiasts over its plans to auction some of its collections, believing that the museum had no right to sell the collection as if it were private property, and the plan had to be urgently halted.

The museum's executive director has said the small museum has a structural deficit averaging about $1.5 million a year, and the museum continues to survive selling 40 works of art, with an expected $50 million in revenue.

The reporter learned from industry insiders engaged in international exchanges of works of art that the regulations of various countries on cultural relics and works of art are different, for example, the American Association of Museums clearly requires that auction collections can only be used to purchase new works of art, protect and repair other collections. The requirement for art museums further clarifies that "the purpose of selling collections must be limited to 'for the purpose of purchasing new works of art'". When the Berkshire Museum planned to sell its collections, institutions such as the American Institute of Museums publicly opposed it.

There is little precedent for domestic museums to sell collections

The reporter learned from industry insiders that there is almost no precedent for domestic museums to sell collections, and a series of laws and regulations have also densely woven a standardized network that restricts the transaction of museum collections.

Article 19 of the "Museum Regulations" also makes it clear that museums shall not engage in commercial business activities such as cultural relics and other collections.

As for museums with cultural relics as their main collections, Article 25 also stipulates: If the museum collections belong to state-owned cultural relics, precious cultural relics in non-state-owned cultural relics, and other cultural relics prohibited from being exported by the state, they shall not leave the country, and shall not be transferred, leased or pledged to foreigners. Where the collections of state-owned museums are cultural relics, they must not be donated, leased or sold to other units or individuals.

Industry insiders said, "Foreign public and state-owned museums are only a part, the main body is run by social institutions and foundations, and many of them are private in nature." However, most of the domestic museums are state-owned, and social institutions and privately run museums have gradually emerged in recent years. This is a difference caused by the social system, and the regulations for the entry of collections into the auction market are also very different. ”

"With the diversification of domestic museum forms, collections and owners, there is still room for laws and regulations on whether museum collections can enter the auction market." According to reports, Article 26 of the "Museum Regulations" makes it clear that if a museum is terminated, it shall dispose of the collection in accordance with the provisions of the laws and administrative regulations of relevant non-profit organizations. "For example, some contemporary art collected by museums may embark on the road of auction in the future."

Overseas museum collections are generally traded through auction channels. The Mainland's Auction Law clearly stipulates that articles or property rights prohibited from being bought or sold by laws or administrative regulations shall not be auction objects.

According to the provisions of the Auction Law, the Mona Lisa is an absolutely prohibited type of transaction if it is in China. Because Article 44 of the Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics makes it clear that state-owned cultural relics collection units are prohibited from donating, leasing or selling cultural relics in their collection to other units and individuals.

However, this does not mean that the cultural relics in the domestic collection can only stay in one museum. The Law on Cultural Relics clearly stipulates that "state-owned cultural relics collection units may also obtain cultural relics through the method of designated custody or transfer by the administrative department for cultural relics", "State-owned cultural relics collection units may apply for the transfer of cultural relics in state-owned collections" and "cultural relics collection units that have acquired cultural relics may give reasonable compensation to the cultural relics collection units that provide cultural relics" in accordance with the law.

"Strict restrictions on the trade in museum collections are necessary." Industry insiders believe that the museum itself is of a public welfare nature, and the museum collection cannot be regarded as the "private property" of the museum, but "social property", and "how to dispose of the collection should be responsible for society." ”