I allowed myself to get quite annoyed when I visited Rome last week, when I discovered that Renato Guttuso’s Crocifissione was on loan to an exhibition in the USA.* Somewhat xenophobic ideas about “Americans coming here and pinching our art!” came to mind. Then it occurred to me that one of the most important works by the American abstract expressionist Mark Rothko (his mural intended for the Seagram Restaurant) is part of the permanent collection of the Tate Modern, in London. My response, when one of my own pieces was shown in a New York gallery, was of quite a different character!
Art is, of course, universal.
*In mitigation I should point out that seeing this work was one of the primary reasons for my going to Rome.