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| Most Anything Is Fair Game in Portugal’s Quest for Cash, Including the Mirós | |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| LISBON — Across much of Continental Europe, the euro crisis did in just a few years what political parties in Britain and the United States had been hacking away at for decades: shrink the size of government. That is true perhaps no more so than here in Portugal. Since the onset of the crisis, the government has shed assets including Portugal’s airport management company, a highway operator and the national postal service. | LISBON — Across much of Continental Europe, the euro crisis did in just a few years what political parties in Britain and the United States had been hacking away at for decades: shrink the size of government. That is true perhaps no more so than here in Portugal. Since the onset of the crisis, the government has shed assets including Portugal’s airport management company, a highway operator and the national postal service. |
| But when it came to selling off a collection of works by the Catalan artist Joan Miró, it was for some a step too far. The government’s announcement that it would sell the collection through the auction house Christie’s in London set off intense discussion of what kind of assets the state should be allowed to sell, and whether the nation’s cultural heritage is off limits. | But when it came to selling off a collection of works by the Catalan artist Joan Miró, it was for some a step too far. The government’s announcement that it would sell the collection through the auction house Christie’s in London set off intense discussion of what kind of assets the state should be allowed to sell, and whether the nation’s cultural heritage is off limits. |
| Portugal’s controversy has now become part of a broader debate across Europe’s hard-hit, if historically treasured, southern tier over the virtues and limits of downsizing government, often centered on the public preservation or privatization of cultural patrimony that touches on the raw nerves of national identity. | Portugal’s controversy has now become part of a broader debate across Europe’s hard-hit, if historically treasured, southern tier over the virtues and limits of downsizing government, often centered on the public preservation or privatization of cultural patrimony that touches on the raw nerves of national identity. |
| “The obsession with eliminating everything that is public is leading the government to go further down the privatization road, and perhaps they consider paintings to be part of the same strategy,” said Gabriela Canavilhas, a Socialist lawmaker and Portugal’s former culture minister. “But even in Detroit, which was declared bankrupt, their final decision was not to sell any art.” | “The obsession with eliminating everything that is public is leading the government to go further down the privatization road, and perhaps they consider paintings to be part of the same strategy,” said Gabriela Canavilhas, a Socialist lawmaker and Portugal’s former culture minister. “But even in Detroit, which was declared bankrupt, their final decision was not to sell any art.” |
| Ms. Canavilhas is among those who are pursuing legal action to prevent the sale of the works and instead have them classified as national heritage. The issue was debated in Parliament on Wednesday, but without reaching any conclusion. | |
| Amid an outcry, Christie’s canceled the auction in February, citing legal concerns over whether Portugal was entitled to sell the works. The auction house recently announced that the sale would go ahead in June, though the anguish surrounding the government’s move has hardly eased, and it has become emblematic of similar debates elsewhere. | |
| Greece has the most ambitious privatization program, including the pending sale of its gas company and island properties, as it has pledged to sell assets worth 11 billion euros, or $15 billion, by the end of 2015 to cut its debts and pay back creditors. But even its plans have been scaled back amid botched transactions and mismanagement. | Greece has the most ambitious privatization program, including the pending sale of its gas company and island properties, as it has pledged to sell assets worth 11 billion euros, or $15 billion, by the end of 2015 to cut its debts and pay back creditors. But even its plans have been scaled back amid botched transactions and mismanagement. |
| A recent decision by the Greek government to sell a handful of properties under the Acropolis prompted a fierce backlash from critics who argued that instead of privatizing the historic district in the heart of Athens, the authorities should preserve it as something belonging to all Greeks. | A recent decision by the Greek government to sell a handful of properties under the Acropolis prompted a fierce backlash from critics who argued that instead of privatizing the historic district in the heart of Athens, the authorities should preserve it as something belonging to all Greeks. |
| In Spain, the mere hint that state-run theaters in Madrid would be sold off has generated street protests by actors and others fearful of the impact on the arts. And in Italy, the cultural debate has focused more on the government’s failure to invest in and safeguard historic sites like Pompeii, where neglect has become tantamount to forfeiture. | In Spain, the mere hint that state-run theaters in Madrid would be sold off has generated street protests by actors and others fearful of the impact on the arts. And in Italy, the cultural debate has focused more on the government’s failure to invest in and safeguard historic sites like Pompeii, where neglect has become tantamount to forfeiture. |
| Here in Portugal, critics charge that the economic crisis has been used to justify the kinds of political moves that have already largely reshaped economies in places like the United States and Britain since the era of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher: selling off assets and subcontracting or outsourcing state services. Portugal has already sold about $11 billion in assets. | Here in Portugal, critics charge that the economic crisis has been used to justify the kinds of political moves that have already largely reshaped economies in places like the United States and Britain since the era of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher: selling off assets and subcontracting or outsourcing state services. Portugal has already sold about $11 billion in assets. |
| While such efforts have not always produced the savings their proponents promised, governments in Europe, where the state sector takes up a larger share of the economy than in the United States, have belatedly taken up the idea of privatization, saying the financial crisis has left them little choice. | While such efforts have not always produced the savings their proponents promised, governments in Europe, where the state sector takes up a larger share of the economy than in the United States, have belatedly taken up the idea of privatization, saying the financial crisis has left them little choice. |
| The economic slump in some euro zone countries may be easing, but the debt burdens that precipitated the crisis show few signs of lightening. In some cases, they have grown worse, as tax revenue fails to rebound amid paralyzing levels of unemployment and anemic growth. | The economic slump in some euro zone countries may be easing, but the debt burdens that precipitated the crisis show few signs of lightening. In some cases, they have grown worse, as tax revenue fails to rebound amid paralyzing levels of unemployment and anemic growth. |
| Trying to balance its books, Portugal’s center-right coalition government has already made deep spending cuts to social services — including education and welfare programs — to comply with the terms of an international bailout negotiated in 2011. Socialist opposition politicians are struggling to draw a line at the Miró collection. | Trying to balance its books, Portugal’s center-right coalition government has already made deep spending cuts to social services — including education and welfare programs — to comply with the terms of an international bailout negotiated in 2011. Socialist opposition politicians are struggling to draw a line at the Miró collection. |
| The works fell into the hands of the Portuguese state in 2008, when the government was forced to seize control of Banco Português de Negócios, or BPN, a bank crippled by debt and management irregularities. Parvalorem, a state holding company, wants to sell the collection to help cover the cost of bailing out the bank. | The works fell into the hands of the Portuguese state in 2008, when the government was forced to seize control of Banco Português de Negócios, or BPN, a bank crippled by debt and management irregularities. Parvalorem, a state holding company, wants to sell the collection to help cover the cost of bailing out the bank. |
| In 2008, BPN tried to negotiate with an American buyer for the sale of the Miró works. “The government is just trying to complete what was already planned when the bank was in private hands,” said Michael Seufert, a conservative lawmaker. “The taxpayer should be made to pay as little as possible” for the cost of rescuing the bank, he said. | In 2008, BPN tried to negotiate with an American buyer for the sale of the Miró works. “The government is just trying to complete what was already planned when the bank was in private hands,” said Michael Seufert, a conservative lawmaker. “The taxpayer should be made to pay as little as possible” for the cost of rescuing the bank, he said. |
| Opponents argue that the $50 million or so that the government hopes to raise from the auction are almost irrelevant when compared with Portugal’s overall financial burden, or with the cost of the international bailout, $110 billion or so, more than 2,000 times the amount to be gained by selling the Miró works. | Opponents argue that the $50 million or so that the government hopes to raise from the auction are almost irrelevant when compared with Portugal’s overall financial burden, or with the cost of the international bailout, $110 billion or so, more than 2,000 times the amount to be gained by selling the Miró works. |
| “The only good thing about BPN is that they at least brought some special art to Portugal,” said Álvaro Beleza, a Socialist Party official. “We’re in economic trouble, many state assets can be sold, but there are limits and keeping these paintings is part of our dignity.” | “The only good thing about BPN is that they at least brought some special art to Portugal,” said Álvaro Beleza, a Socialist Party official. “We’re in economic trouble, many state assets can be sold, but there are limits and keeping these paintings is part of our dignity.” |
| Even if the auction goes ahead, Carlos Cabral Nunes, a gallery owner who has been campaigning to keep the Miró works in Portugal, said the debate over the auction showed authorities “cannot deal with art as if nobody cares.” | Even if the auction goes ahead, Carlos Cabral Nunes, a gallery owner who has been campaigning to keep the Miró works in Portugal, said the debate over the auction showed authorities “cannot deal with art as if nobody cares.” |
| Mr. Cabral Nunes also cited Detroit as an example. Charitable foundations have been raising funds to protect the city’s artwork and in January a judge blocked an attempt by creditors to evaluate the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts as part of Detroit’s bankruptcy filing. | Mr. Cabral Nunes also cited Detroit as an example. Charitable foundations have been raising funds to protect the city’s artwork and in January a judge blocked an attempt by creditors to evaluate the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts as part of Detroit’s bankruptcy filing. |
| “When you sell something like the electricity company or the postal service, you sell the ownership, but the services still remain here and available to citizens,” Mr. Cabral Nunes said. “When you auction art, you make sure nobody in Portugal will ever benefit from it, so this is an irreparable destruction of our patrimony.” | “When you sell something like the electricity company or the postal service, you sell the ownership, but the services still remain here and available to citizens,” Mr. Cabral Nunes said. “When you auction art, you make sure nobody in Portugal will ever benefit from it, so this is an irreparable destruction of our patrimony.” |
| While the Miró collection has turned into a political hot potato, opposition lawmakers have also claimed that the government violated trade legislation by sending the works to Christie’s in London without proper export certification. | While the Miró collection has turned into a political hot potato, opposition lawmakers have also claimed that the government violated trade legislation by sending the works to Christie’s in London without proper export certification. |
| Christie’s would neither comment on the legal issue nor say whether the chairman of Christie’s European advisory board, Pedro Girão, who is Portuguese, was involved in the auction project. | Christie’s would neither comment on the legal issue nor say whether the chairman of Christie’s European advisory board, Pedro Girão, who is Portuguese, was involved in the auction project. |
| Before reaching Portugal, the Miró collection had already followed a convoluted path around the art market, from the New York gallery of Pierre Matisse, an art dealer and son of the French painter, to a private collection in Japan and finally to BPN. Along the way, the collection was also split up, so that 85 of about 200 works ended up in Lisbon. Those include “Women and Birds,” now expected to fetch about $7 million, and “Painting,” valued at $4 million. | Before reaching Portugal, the Miró collection had already followed a convoluted path around the art market, from the New York gallery of Pierre Matisse, an art dealer and son of the French painter, to a private collection in Japan and finally to BPN. Along the way, the collection was also split up, so that 85 of about 200 works ended up in Lisbon. Those include “Women and Birds,” now expected to fetch about $7 million, and “Painting,” valued at $4 million. |
| The Miró collection has not been shown in public in Portugal. In fact, Pedro Lapa, director of the Berardo Collection Museum and one of the few Portuguese art experts to have seen the works, said he had been stunned to discover “such a huge collection was here and not even properly stored by the bank.” | The Miró collection has not been shown in public in Portugal. In fact, Pedro Lapa, director of the Berardo Collection Museum and one of the few Portuguese art experts to have seen the works, said he had been stunned to discover “such a huge collection was here and not even properly stored by the bank.” |
| Mr. Lapa said he failed to convince BPN, and more recently the government, to organize an exhibition. Portugal should now strive to create a new museum built around the Miró collection and other works to fill a cultural gap, he said, as “no Portuguese government ever built an international collection of modern art.” | Mr. Lapa said he failed to convince BPN, and more recently the government, to organize an exhibition. Portugal should now strive to create a new museum built around the Miró collection and other works to fill a cultural gap, he said, as “no Portuguese government ever built an international collection of modern art.” |
| Asked why a Catalan painter like Miró should be used to promote Portuguese culture, Mr. Lapa was unperturbed. “People go to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, but Leonardo was Italian and not French,” he said. | Asked why a Catalan painter like Miró should be used to promote Portuguese culture, Mr. Lapa was unperturbed. “People go to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, but Leonardo was Italian and not French,” he said. |