China outraged by Paris auction of Chinese artifacts
 

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French judges allows auction of Chinese bronze artifacts

Mon, 2009-02-23 20:00.
By: Julien Proult, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PARIS - A French judge Monday refused to halt the sale of disputed Chinese bronze fountainheads heading for Christie's auction block as part of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent's estate.

The judge ordered an association that sought to prevent the sale to pay US$1,000 in fines each to the auction house and to the firm of Pierre Berge, the longtime partner of the French fashion icon.

The bronze heads of a rabbit and a rat disappeared from the summer Imperial Palace on the outskirts of Beijing when French and British forces sacked it at the close of the second Opium War in 1860.

The dispute had cast a shadow over what some are calling the "sale of the century," the three-day auction of 733 works of art collected over half a century by the Saint Laurent and Berge.

The auction began Monday. The Chinese artifacts have not yet been auctioned.

Lawyers for a China-linked group, APACE, sought to block the sale of the bronzes - not the entire auction. The group acknowledged that Saint Laurent acquired the bronzes legally, but said they should be returned to China or at least displayed in a museum.

Jean-Paul Chazal, a lawyer for Christie's, said he was "entirely satisfied" by the ruling, and chastised APACE for straying from the rules it faces under French law.

He insisted that such an advocacy group has a role to defend its members - "not to substitute itself for the Embassy of China, a state, or a government prosecutor."

The fountainheads date to the early Qing Dynasty, established by invading Manchu tribesmen in 1644. The Christie's catalogue says they were made for the Zodiac fountain of the summer Imperial Palace.

The rat's head sculpture is about 30 centimetres tall and 40 centimetres long. The rabbit is about 45 centimetres tall and 35 centimetres long.

They are expected to sell for up to US$13 million each, according to news reports.

A defiant Berge said Friday he had no intention of "giving these heads to the Chinese government ... Rather, I would recommend that the Chinese, instead of getting worked up over the heads, worry about human rights."

Beyond the bronzes, the auction will be closely watched in the art world amid worries the financial crisis is cutting into the market.

Highlights include Piet Mondrian's 1922 painting, "Composition in Blue, Red, Yellow and Black," whose squares of saturated colours inspired Saint Laurent's renowned 1965 shift dress, and a wooden sculpture by Romanian artist Constantin Brancusi expected to sell for $19 million-$25 million.

The highest price is expected to go to a 1914-1915 Picasso painting called "Instruments de musique sur un gueridon" ("Musical Instruments on a Table") from his cubist period. The canvas is the last large-format painting from the period still in private hands, Christie's said.

The Picasso estimated worth is $32 million-$38 million.

Other lots include sculptures from ancient Egypt and Rome, ivory crucifixes and silver German beer steins that covered every available surface of Saint Laurent's homes. Also on sale is his art deco furniture and his bed.

The sale is expected to gross $250 million-$380 million. A portion of the proceeds will go to support AIDS research.

Saint Laurent died in June at age 71 of brain cancer.

France has pissed China off several times.

I wonder what they are going to do

France gonna be eating lead soon

AIDS Research you say?

Chinese don't get AIDS.

:haha:

why doesn't china just bid for the artifacts...?

yes china is going to pay 400mil to buy back artifacts stolen from them

It is not unprecedented for such objects to be bought by a wealthy (Chinese in this case) person and returned to the state. It shouldn't come down to it, but it often does.

Though RS isn't going to see things this way, it's an issue that goes far beyond Sino-Franco relations. This sort of thing is a reminder (to many countries, including the Chinese) of imperialism.

Aids was actually the #1 killer in china last year i belive

i guess french government really want to tick the next powerhouse off....
first begs for business...when done....stabs u frm behind

Its just like Britain and the British Museum.... hoarding all the treasures from the nations they conquered back in the day (This is a COUNTRY BTW who is refusing the return of goods not a Person)

India/Egypt etc etc have all asked for their Artifacts back but were told to Fuck Off


its not like France is auctioning off the goods; they currently belong to a recently deceased man

The person in Charge of his Estate has said he has no qualms in returning the artifacts if they bring Human Rights to Tibet

yeh,, the biggest dimond in the world was taken at the time of British Raj, now it sits on top of the crown for the queen,,,

u take some,, u lose some,, deal with it

i could be wrong, but i think most of china's artifacts are destroyed after the cultural revolution and a lot of them are is sitting in the imperial palace museum in taiwan now?

China just needs to make more knockoff French products to get even ;)

LV GALORE BABY! Oh wait, they already do make tons of knockoff french product. Maybe France is getting even? heh heh

I bet France is pissed off at all the fake LVs China makes... hahaha!

china should go steal some precious french artifacts and then auction it in china a few days later

Chinese government funded "Ocean 88"

not only is it not the govt at fault here

those artifacts really belong to Manchuria and thats non-existant now ^^




Lol anyone see the banner at top? ChnLove looks like its a mail order bride site

FTA

"They are expected to sell for up to US$13 million each, according to news reports"

I don't know where you got 400 million from.

he got mixed up with the entire auction gross wit hthe chiense sculpture price

chillaxxxxxxxx

china does not want dsg-9 on their ass. a squad of pissy french men will ruin anyones day real fast

"second Opium War in 1860."

wow what a way to start a war :lol

Chinas bought back artifacts before, especially from auctions held in HK and Taiwan

I guess the Communists destroyed so much Chinese culture during the "revolution" that they are getting pissed when someone else finds an artefact they haven't destroyed yet :lol

The group acknowledged that Saint Laurent acquired the bronzes legally, but said they should be returned to China or at least displayed in a museum.