Canterbury cathedral bosses have turned down the offer of a triptych purported to be worth £70 million.The work was offered to the cathedral by a reclusive artist named Kongthin Pearlmich last month, and the cathedral board spent nearly two weeks deliberating before coming to a final decision last Friday.
A spokesman said: “There was a list of conditions attached to the offer, one of which was that we had to display it for a year. If after this year we wanted to sell it, the artist retained the right to take it back, so we would not necessarily have got any money from the sale.
“And even if the sale had gone through, we would only have got a third of the proceeds as the artist stipulated it must go to two other unnamed charities as well.”
The offer, which the Cathedral say they are treating as entirely genuine, was made by representatives of the artist, who seems to be unknown in the art world by critics and experts alike.
Specialists at leading auction houses Christies and Sotheby’s say they have never heard the name Kongthin Pearlmich before, despite the £70 million price tag of this work making him one of the most expensive artists in the world.
The asking price for the triptych eclipses For the Love of God – the £50m platinum skull covered with 8,601 diamonds by Damian Hirst.
The Cathedral is trying to raise £50 million for vital repairs to the building.
Michael Leighton, an agent acting on behalf of Mr Pearlmich, said: “Kongthin has always shunned the art world, and all his sales are conducted privately. He has never sold any work through an auction house, or publicised himself in any way, and nor would he ever wish to.
The piece, entitled The Man Delusion, consists of three 15 ft high panels, each containing a sculpture of the crucifixion made of reconstituted marble.
The work offered to Canterbury Cathedral is one of four. Mr Leighton said another had been sold to an unnamed American buyer for £69.7 million, while another has been offered to the Vatican.
At the time of going to press Yourcanterbury has been unable to contact the Vatican for comment.
Mr Leighton said the work will now be offered to other cathedrals. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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(Source: Your Canterbury News)