The still life The Strawberry Basket by the French painter Jean-Siméon Chardin sold for a record-breaking $26.7 million at the auction house Artcurial on 23 March in Paris.
The record sum was bid by New York art dealer Adam Williams, who was present in the auction room on behalf of a client. But whether this sale will actually take place is now uncertain. As Laurence des Cars, director of the Louvre, told Le Figaro newspaper, the museum has expressed its interest in Chardin's famous work and is now seeking to have it classified as 'National Treasure', which would make it impossible to export from France.
In mid-April, an advisory commission is to decide on the Louvre's application. If approved – which The Art Newspaper says is very likely – the museum would then have 30 months to raise the necessary funds to purchase Chardin's work.
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