Bailed-Out Bank’s Miro Art on Auction Causes Row in Portugal
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As Portugal looks at ways of generating money, one sale is a step too far for some locals.
The government in Lisbon is aiming to raise at least $50 million from 85 works by Joan Miro, a sum dismissed as derisory by a group of artists and politicians. The works by the Catalan were the property of Banco Portugues de Negocios, or BPN, a bank seized by the state in 2008, and will be auctioned on Feb. 4-5 by Christie’s International in London.