The artist who commissioned the bust that is being displayed at the Art Gallery of Ontario was 20th century Ukrainian modernist Alexander Archipenko.Archipenko was born in Kiev in 1887, lived in France and Germany, and died in New York in 1964. He never set foot in Canada. The seller of Flat Torso was descended from someone who bought it in Mannheim, Germany, in 1922. How does a Ukrainian's sculpture, purchased in Germany, qualify as Canadian heritage? Flat Torso was cast in 1920; Archipenko died in New York in 1964. The vendor said that his Flat Torso was brought to Canada during the Second World War.
The Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board, which deals with about 400 export permits a year, informs curators and consultants when an object of "national significance" is about to be sold abroad (about 20 cases a year). If the experts come up with compelling reasons for keeping the object in this country, the board can delay the sale, giving Canadian museums and galleries the chance to bid.
The application for permission to sell Flat Torso, a sinuous, 38-centimetre-high bronze nude (a little bigger than an Oscar) on a 9.3-cm grey marble base, by Archipenko was blocked, allowing this Ukrainian treasure to stay in Canada.
1 comment:
Can't help but notice that the Canadian media establishment is more kindly disposed towards a Ukrainian who has never set foot in Canada than towards those who have actually helped build this country. And its utter indifference towards any aspect of Canadian history that prominently involves Ukrainians.
For example, commemorative plaques have been unveiled at over half the 26 WWI internment sites across Canada, yet not one unveiling has ever made it to even a back page of this self-named "national" newspaper.
But, that's another story. Thanks for this one. (It's still a good one!)
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