08/10/2001

Peter-Klaus Schuster, general director of the Staatliche Museen (National Museums) in Berlin, has announced the forthcoming purchase of the Egidio Marzona art collection. Along with Julian Nida-Rümelin, the chancellor's top adviser for cultural affairs, Schuster cemented the deal. Marzona, a German of Italian descent and one of Europe's most important collectors of conceptual art, land art, minimal art and arte povera will hand over his collection comprising about 1,000 artworks and 50,000 archive items using a financing model akin to patronage. Although Nida-Rümelin said the collection was estimated at $ 16,800,000 (€ 18,406,507), the purchasing group will need to come up with only one-third of that figure: $ 5,654,515 (€ 6,135,502). The federal government will contribute $ 1,413,289 (€ 1,533,875), the association of friends of the Neue Nationalgalerie another $ 1,413,289 (€ 1,533,875), and other donors the remaining $ 2,825,912 (€ 3,067,751). The second third of the $ 16,963,545 (€ 18,406,507) figure will be considered a donation and the remaining one-third a permanent loan. The public will see the works when an initial presentation of 120 artworks is shown at the Hamburger Bahnhof museum, Berlin starting on November the 23rd. (James Goulder)