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UID:137@ilcircolo.org.uk
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261001T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261001T203000
DTSTAMP:20260709T102429Z
URL:https://www.ilcircolo.org.uk/events/the-geopolitics-of-art-from-cold-w
 ar-soft-power-to-the-salvator-mundi-affair-by-silvia-badiali/
SUMMARY:The Geopolitics of Art: From Cold War Soft Power to the Salvator Mu
 ndi Affair and Restitution Cases by Silvia Badiali
DESCRIPTION:\nOur member Silvia Badiali is taking us on a journey through t
 he Geopolitics of Art.\nArt has never been merely aesthetic. From the Cold
  War to the contemporary Gulf\, states\, intelligence agencies and billion
 aires have wielded art as an instrument of power\, prestige\, and ideology
 .\nIn the 1950s\, the CIA covertly funded major European touring exhibitio
 ns of American Abstract Expressionism\, promoting the freedom and individu
 alism of Western culture against the rigid conformity of Soviet Socialist 
 Realism.\nThe Salvator Mundi tells a more recent story. Sold at Christie's
  in 2017 for a record $450 million\, the painting disappeared into geopoli
 tical intrigue\, a proxy purchase by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salma
 n\, with a cancelled Louvre exhibition looming in the background. It has n
 ot been seen publicly since.\nFinally\, three recent restitution cases rem
 ind us that this is not history: it is happening now.\nFrancesca will offe
 r an aperitif at the end of the talk.\nBecome a member of il Circolo Lond
 on to benefit from these opportunities\n\n&nbsp\;\n\n\n
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.ilcircolo.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/
 2026/06/The-tense-auction-at-Christies-New-York-in-2017-where-the-Salvator
 -Mundi-was-sold-to-Mohammed-bin-Salman.jpeg
CATEGORIES:Art,Education
LOCATION:A casa di Francesca\, Garden Flat\, 1 Wetherby Gardens\, London\, 
 SW5 0JN\, United Kingdom
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Garden Flat\, 1 Wetherby Ga
 rdens\, London\, SW5 0JN\, United Kingdom;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=A cas
 a di Francesca:geo:0,0
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