Chagall work rescued from auction to go on display
The Eiffel Tower by Marc Chagall, which the National Gallery of Canada had intended to sell at auction this spring until an 11thhour reversal of plans, will go on display on Saturday at the gallery.
The painting by the late and revered French-Russian painter will be on view in the European galleries on the gallery’s second floor, alongside Chagall’s earlier painting Memories of Childhood, a short statement from the gallery said Thursday.
Both paintings are to remain on view until winter 2019 when regularly scheduled maintenance program gets underway, the statement continued. “The Eiffel Tower will be shown at the gallery from time to time going forward, as will Chagall’s Memories of Childhood,” said the statement.
The statement does not note that the painting was the subject of wide public attention and outcry this spring. The gallery had planned to sell the painting for as much as $9 million U.S. at a mid-May auction in New York, in order to finance future acquisitions. However, in late April, the gallery’s board of trustees called off the sale of the painting, following much news coverage, petition campaigns and even an open letter from Chagall’s relatives decrying the sale.
To honour its contract with the auction house Christie’s, an anonymous donor paid Christie’s an undisclosed amount on behalf of the gallery so that the sale would be cancelled.