TiT: Carmen is Thai!
Mort
By Ploenpote Atthakor
An academic yesterday petitioned the Thai government to purchase
Original Carmen, a portrait by Pablo Picasso, from a local businessman
who plans to sell it to a foreign art collector.
Vinai Phu-numphon, an associate professor at Silpakorn University's
Arts Faculty, said the painting's owner, Sittha Tianukrit, who shares
ownership with the Poonsap family, is about to sell the pastel
painting to a Swiss collector for US$60 million (2.4 billion baht).
However, Mr Vinai said Mr Sittha had told him he would be more than
willing to sell it to the government for US$50 million.
Mr Vinai has dropped a petition in the prime minister's complaint box
at Ban Phitsanulok.
The painting, once thought to have been lost, is known as Original
Carmen after Picasso's original charcoal sketch now kept at the
Picasso Museum in Barcelona. The artist painted it when he was just
16.
Evidence shows the painting was presented to King Chulalongkorn as a
gift for his son, the then Crown Prince Maha Vajiravudh, during the
monarch's visit to Spain over a century ago.
In 1917, King Vajiravudh who succeeded his father, decided to auction
off the painting to generate funds to buy warships. It was sold to the
Amartayakul family and subsequently to the Poonsap family before
ending up with Mr Sittha.
Mr Vinai said the name of the woman in the painting was actually
Henriette Nigrin (1877-1965), the wife of the Spanish artist.
``Carmen in this instance means young woman, and is not her real
name,'' Mr Vinai said.
The lecturer said the owner had spent a huge amount of money and
effort to verify the painting's authenticity over the past two
decades.
The government could generate the money by issuing special lottery
tickets. The painting, now in a bank safebox, is priceless and should
be kept as part of the nation's heritage, rather than falling into the
hands of foreigners, he said.
Source: The Bangkok Post