Last chance to keep Manet鈥檚 Portrait of Mademoiselle Claus in the UK
Culture Minister defers export of stunning impressionist painting.
Culture Minister Ed Vaizey has placed a , providing a last chance to raise the money needed to keep the painting in the United Kingdom.聽
The painting, which dates from 1868 and is in an unfinished state, depicts Mademoiselle Claus, a friend of the artist, seated on a balcony.
The portrait was purchased by the American painter John Singer Sargent in 1884 after Manet鈥檚 death and has remained in the United Kingdom ever since.
Outstanding aesthetic importance
The Minister鈥檚 ruling follows a recommendation by the , administered by .
The Committee recommended that the export decision be deferred on the grounds that the portrait was of outstanding aesthetic importance and of outstanding significance for the study of聽 French painting of the second half of the nineteenth century and in particular the work of Manet, one of the leading Impressionist painters of the period.