Losing the fear

The fact is that the new additions to Spain’s historical and cultural heritage in recent years have essentially been purchases made by private individuals, which in some cases have subsequently been sold or loaned to the State. 

It is also a fact that the current regulations governing the Spanish art sector are totally obsolete. Why? It seems more than obvious that the measures that were intended to increase the State’s collection have had the completely opposite effect to what was meant: increasing opacity and legal uncertainty in the sector and undermining investor confidence. Not only that, but because of the downturn, many companies formerly involved in cultural patronage have turned to humanitarian causes and solidarity initiatives instead. All of these factors, combined with the difficulties that have historically plagued the sector, bring us to a debacle that will probably take decades to reverse.

Now is no time for laments. What are needed are solutions – and here are a few ideas in that direction: the VAT rate could be altered for certain groups: artists, middlemen, collectors; the tax on imported works could be eliminated; the definition of ‘work of art’ could be updated to include manifestations such as video-art, installations, etc.; the tax on the transfer of works of art could be done away with... These and many other measures are mentioned in an interesting report by the Fundación de Arte y Mecenazgo (Art and Patronage Foundation), created on the initiative of La Caixa and other institutions and major names from the art world.  

It’s about losing the fear. Freeing up a market that has only been damaged by control and around which a third-world underground economy has arisen. We have to lose the fear because while some works may leave Spain, several others will return to our country. There is nothing better than new legislation for everyone to know what the situation is. Legality and certainty.

Many are surprised that our magazine continues to ‘discover’ paintings, as if we had a basement from where we get our inspiration for our ‘exclusives’. Not at all: these are works of art that are waiting for more favourable circumstances to come on the scene. To be studied and become the object of publications. Even when this happens abroad, there are companies that render an excellent service by devoting effort and resources to studying and restoring them, such as the Velázquez at Yale University we reported on and Banco Santander’s decision to invest in it. There is nothing to fear.