The United Kingdom has blocked the export of a $2.9 million worth Alberto Giacometti chandelier, giving local institutions a chance to match its price.
The artwork was reportedly commissioned just after WWII, between 1946-47, by Peter Watson. Watson was an art collector and a friend of Alberto Giacometti. From there it found itself on the walls of Horizon, the office of a UK-based arts journal, and then placed in storage. The chandelier was next spotted in an antique shop in London, from where English painter John Craxton bought it for $700 and displayed it at his home. The lighting fixture remained there for the next 50 years.
In 2021, the Giacometti Foundation examined the chandelier and authenticated it as an original work. Not just that, but they also remarked it as a rare work given the presence of a suspended ball, which has only appeared in one other Giacometti work. Hyped by this, the chandelier was sold at Christie’s in February this year for £2.92 million ($3.52 million), exceeding its own pre-sale expectations of $3 million. However, the works of Alberto Giacometti are among the most sought-after artworks of their kind in the market. A similar hanging fixture by the artist was sold for $9 million in 2018. Moreover, his 1947 bronze piece L’Homme au Doigt was sold for $141.3 million in 2015, setting the record as the most expensive sculpture ever.
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However, given the cultural importance of the work in England, the UK government is now attempting to keep the work within the country. As usual, the temporary export ban will allow local museums and collectors to raise funds for matching the market price of the sculpture. Stephen Parkinson (Arts and Heritage Minister, UK) said: “Giacometti’s masterful exploration of space and use of bronze in this extraordinary chandelier provided a centerpiece for cultural discussion in post-war London as it hung in the offices of the avant-garde magazine Horizon.”
