Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport Written Evidence


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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