Dutch art that is so valuable that it must be preserved for the Netherlands may not simply be sold abroad in the future. In a Letter to parliament Secretary of State Gunay Uslu (Culture and Media, D66) announced on Tuesday that she will lay down rules for this in a law.
With her letter, the State Secretary responds to the advice of the Netherlands Collection Committee led by Sybrand van Haersma Buma, the mayor of Leeuwarden. In March, the committee already argued for a more active government protection policy for national heritage in private hands. The Buma committee was set up after a fuss about secret art sales by the royal family. For example, Princess Christina had a drawing by Rubens auctioned in 2019.
Export license
Uslu explains in her letter that for objects with a certain value or age threshold that are owned by private individuals, an export license will soon have to be applied for, both within and outside the EU, if the owner wants to sell the object.
Before such a permit is issued, an independent committee assesses whether the object is irreplaceable and indispensable. If that is the case, the government, museums and private individuals will be the first to have the opportunity to purchase. The work may only be sold abroad if there are no Dutch interested parties.
“Thanks to these permits, we can check in advance whether we find something so valuable that we want to keep it for the Netherlands Collection,” says Uslu. With the Netherlands Collection, the State Secretary means “the total of the publicly accessible registered collections and the non-accessible, private collections for which the government has taken responsibility,” she writes to the House of Representatives.
Unique pieces
It will not involve large numbers of works of art for which an export license must be applied for, says Uslu. “I do not intend to disrupt the art market. It will really be about exceptional situations, about very special, unique pieces.”
An independent advisory committee ‘Irreplaceable and Indispensable’, yet to be set up, will advise whether a specific art object or related objects are indispensable and irreplaceable.
Because an amendment to the Heritage Act is necessary, it will take several years before all measures are in force.
Also read this interview with Sybrand van Haersma Buma: ‘Privately owned heritage should not simply be sold abroad’