Stink bomb protest at Paris art auction
mar...@myrealbox.com
Last Update: Tuesday, April 8, 2003. 11:53am (AEST)
Stink bomb protest at Paris art auction
Protesters let off stink bombs and hurled fake euro notes as they
vented their opposition to a Paris auction of artworks, seen as
touchstones of Surrealism.
The handful of protesters drowned out the auctioneer's voice as a
crowd of more than 400 packed the Drouot auction house when the first
of some 5,500 items collected by the late Surrealist poet Andre Breton
went under the hammer.
"You are murdering the poet," a protester shouted, reflecting
widespread anger in France's art community that the collection was
being sold instead of being saved for the nation.
Madonna and Bill Gates are reported to be among those interested in an
auction which is like a roll-call of modern art, including works by
Rene Magritte, Pablo Picasso, Diego Rivera, Salvador Dali, Jean Arp
and Marcel Duchamp.
The Government says it has not abrogated its duty to art and left open
the possibility it would buy items thought to warrant such a move.
Auctioneers CalmelsCohen expects the collection, which Breton put
together in his tiny Montmartre studio, to fetch more than 30 million
euros.
Some 3,400 artists and intellectuals have signed a petition declaring:
"No to the Andre Breton bargain sale".
The world's major galleries have all sent representatives to inspect
the works and a Drouot spokeswoman says 50,000 people visited a
pre-sale exhibition which opened last week.
The collection is being sold 37 years after Breton's death, because
his descendants can no longer manage his legacy.
As bidding began, the protesters flung imitation 10 euro notes into
the crowd.
The smell of stink bombs also spread through the room as the auction
was held up.
The protesters put their hands up and left the room as security guards
approached them.
France's Culture Minister Jean-Jacques Aillagon told French radio:
"The Ministry is quite convinced of the importance of the collection
Breton put together."
"When a work or a manuscript represents a major interest for the
nation's cultural heritage, it will exercise its pre-emptive right (to
buy)," he said.
That right gives the Government the chance to purchase a work at the
highest bid price at auctions.
Protesters distributed leaflets outside the auction house against the
sale, which goes until April 17.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s827134.htm
Kwigd144
mar...@myrealbox.com
>Madonna and Bill Gates! Oh GOD!
Yes, they are just as surrealist as GW Bush and the Marines... :-)
Perhaps you could beg Mr Gates to buy some of your work?
regards
Marcus
Kwigd144
Bill Gates WANTING to OWN A PIECE OF BRETON, Well TOO BAD!!!!!! You think
letting off a stink bomb is gonna stop $$$$ POWER????? Sadly Mistaken! Plus,
ALL THE SURREALISTS DID NOT DO SHIT TO STOP THE SALE IN TEH FIRST PLACE, so you
get what you deserve. I was screaming about stopping the Breton Sale and then
I find out that ONLY A SLECT FEW OF THE, "SURREALIST" SIGNATURES ARE BEING
SHOWN INSTEAD OF THE WHOLE LIST OF 3000 plus!!!!!!!!!!!! TALK ABOUT
ELITISM!!!!!! MARCUS, Nobody in this Bogus Movement gives a fuck about
anything, let alone Surrealism!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, It all goes to AUCTION
ON APRIL 17!!!!!! OINK, OINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MADONNA!!!!!
mar...@myrealbox.com
>I was screaming about stopping the Breton Sale and then
>I find out that ONLY A SLECT FEW OF THE, "SURREALIST" SIGNATURES ARE BEING
>SHOWN INSTEAD OF THE WHOLE LIST OF 3000 plus!!!!!!!!!!!! TALK ABOUT
>ELITISM!!!!!!
It's material from Breton's collection. So, are you accusing Breton of
being elitist?
Surely, people have the right to choose what they want to collect and
Breton certainly did *not* collect your work because it's *not*
surrealism!
>Bogus Movement
Which one? The one started by Breton or the "surrealist" thing to
which you claim to belong?
regards
Marcus
JBE...@nyc.rr.com
Kwigd144
you git! Secondly, Remember, The SURREALIST MOVEMENT TODAY IS A GHOST!!!! One
that only haunts itlself and you are the wrong cheerleader, poppy! Finish
College or go back, whatever you need to do, WANK,
WANK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Morpheal
ghost. That is your true purpose and you have lived up to it. I am sure
you will be promoted in the ranks of the propaganda goons. Congrats.
R.