The export bar is to allow time for a UK buyer to come forward to match the asking price which, with VAT of £591,000, is just shy of £26.8m. Guardi was one of the greatest Venetian view painters of the 18th century and the huge painting is considered his masterpiece. Busy with commerce and gondolas it shows familar landmarks such as the Rialto Bridge, the fruit market and the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi. The decision to place a temporary export bar was based on a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA). In 2011, a similar export bar was placed on the painting’s companion piece ‘Venice, a View of the Rialto Bridge, Looking North, from the Fondamenta del Carbon’.

Source: The Guardian January 05, 2018 15:45 UTC