Angolan millionaire, Rui Costa Reis, has made an offer to the Portuguese government to buy back 85 works by Spanish artist Joan Miro. Christie's intends to put it up for auction next June. The newspaper reported Thursday Economic diary.
He made his fortune in grain
The son of Portuguese immigrants, who made his fortune in grains, has offered to pay €44 million for the collection on the condition that it be displayed for 50 years in Portugal. Rui Costa Reis, 46, chose Porto, the large city in the north of the country, where his mother is from, as the site for the exhibition. He also ventured into film production in Hollywood, for example investing $18 million in a thriller ghost. A movie that completely failed.
The state wants to sell it to replenish its coffers
The government's decision to sell Miro's eighty-five works to replenish state coffers aroused the ire of cultural circles and the socialist opposition, which took legal measures to prevent the sale. Christie's estimates the total value of the 85 Miro at more than £30 million (€36.4 million), presenting the works as one of the most comprehensive and impressive collections of the artist ever to come to auction.
The first auction has been cancelled
This business became the property of the Portuguese state after the nationalization of its owner, BPN Bank, in 2008, which suffered significant losses due to fraud. Due to legal disputes in Portugal, Christie's at the last minute canceled the first auction of the works scheduled for early February in London before rescheduling for June.
However, this may be put on hold by the Portuguese courts, due to new appeals brought by the Public Prosecutor's Office which deems the works “part of the country's cultural heritage”.
