Annex
JOSHUA REYNOLDS'
OMAI
On 4 December 2002 the Reviewing Committee on
the Export of Works considered an application by Settlements SA,
Switzerland, for a licence to export permanently the portrait,
Omai, by Sir Joshua Reynolds (Case 32, 2002-03). The Committee
recommended that a decision on the export licence application
be deferred to enable an offer to purchase to be made at the agreed
fair market price of £12,500,000. The work was given a starred
rating, indicating that it was a work of outstanding national
importance. The initial deferral period was for three months,
with an extension of an additional six months, should there be
a serious intention to raise funds with a view to making an offer
to purchase the portrait.
On 22 January 2003 the Trustees of Tate agreed
in principle to pursue the acquisition of Omai, a decision which
was communicated to the reviewing Committee on 11 March 2003.
As a result of the generosity of a private donor Tate was shortly
afterwards enabled to make a matching offer of £12.5 million.
However, after several months of negotiations, the owner decided
to turn down Tate's offer and to retain the picture in this country.
In 2004 Omai was granted a temporary export
licence to Italy for three months for display in the exhibition,
Joshua Reynolds The Creation of Celebrity, in Ferrara (February
to May 2005), owing to the unconditional permission of the owner
to allow the work to be included in the exhibition. Subsequently,
it was displayed at Tate Britain (May to September 2005) in the
same exhibition.
On 20 September 2005 the owner applied
for a temporary licence to export Omai to the National Gallery
of Ireland, Dublin, for a period of six years. The reason for
the export application was related to tax benefits accruing to
the owner for displaying work in public in Ireland, where the
owner is resident. Under Irish law the owner would not be liable
for any Capital Gains Tax on any later sale of the picture. The
temporary export licence for a period of six years was granted.
Omai is due to return to Great Britain in November 2011.
September 2006
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