Sale of Rubens by Dutch Royal Family ‘Not Right Royal Way’, Says Museum Director

Image source:  Sotheby's

The auction of a drawing of the flamenco painter Rubens (1577-1640) belonging to the private collection of the Dutch Royal Family, has revived the debate on the disappearance of artistic heritage behind the backs of museums. With an estimated price between 2.5 and 3.5 million dollars (from 2 to 3 million euros), will go on sale next January 30 at the Sotheby's house in New York, along with 12 sketches and Studies of Ancient Masters. In the hands of the Orange since the nineteenth century, they are presented as "property of a princess", supposedly Cristina, little sister of the former queen Beatriz, her owner until the year 2000. Although it is a private matter, the gesture contrasts with the obligation imposed on the national galleries to ask their colleagues if they are interested in a piece of this caliber before selling it.

Image source: Sotheby's 

In addition to the drawings, the princess, mentioned without a proper name in the Sotheby's catalog, hopes to sell a battery of silver and porcelain objects. Also crystal table decorations with tulip motifs, designed in 1937 by the French René Lalique. This group will be auctioned on January 17, in London, by the same firm. "It's not the real style," said Sjarel Ex, director of the Boymans van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam,  which houses the largest Dutch collection of works by Rubens. "There have been no prior consultations, so that the national museums try to collect the sum requested by the charcoal of the painter" he added. It is a nude of a man with arms raised for an altarpiece of the Cathedral of Our Lady, in Antwerp (Belgium). "I ask [a la Familia Real] a period of reflection, because this collection is part of the national heritage ", according to Ex.