Our member Silvia Badiali is taking us on a journey through the Geopolitics of Art.
Art has never been merely aesthetic. From the Cold War to the contemporary Gulf, states, intelligence agencies and billionaires have wielded art as an instrument of power, prestige, and ideology.
In the 1950s, the CIA covertly funded major European touring exhibitions of American Abstract Expressionism, promoting the freedom and individualism of Western culture against the rigid conformity of Soviet Socialist Realism.
The Salvator Mundi tells a more recent story. Sold at Christie’s in 2017 for a record $450 million, the painting disappeared into geopolitical intrigue, a proxy purchase by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with a cancelled Louvre exhibition looming in the background. It has not been seen publicly since.
Finally, three recent restitution cases remind us that this is not history: it is happening now.
Francesca will offer an aperitif at the end of the talk.
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