UK govt imposes temporary export ban on painting depicting Indian soldiers who fought for the British during WW1

In a statement issued, Lord Stephen Parkinson, UK Arts and Heritage Minister, stated, “This wonderful and sensitive portrait captures an important moment in our history as soldiers were drawn from across the globe to help fight in the trenches of the First World War.”

The soldiers reportedly sat for Laszlo in London for two months before being sent to France to fight. Considered a rare depiction of Indian participants in World War I, the painting was in the artist’s studio till his death in 1937, and the UK government hopes it is acquired by a domestic buyer.

The decision for the export licence application for the painting has been deferred for a period ending on July 13, 2023. The decision has been made following the advice of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, on the basis of “outstanding significance to the study of the Indian contribution to the war effort and the individuals involved”.

In the release, Committee Member Peter Barber states, “Philip de László was one of Britain’s most distinguished society portrait painters of the early twentieth century. But this sensitive portrait, all the more powerful because it is unfinished, offers an exceptionally rare glimpse not of maharajahs or generals but of two ‘ordinary’ middle-ranking Sikh soldiers about to depart for the horrors of the Battle of the Somme. The enormous contribution made by them and millions of other Indians to Britain’s war effort between 1914 and 1918 has until recently been largely overlooked and the life stories of de László’s sitters remain to be uncovered. Yet numerous descendants of Indian soldiers now live in Britain, rendering the portrait ‘British’ at several, increasingly significant, levels.”

According to the press release, at the end of the first deferral period, owners will have a consideration period of 15 business days to consider any offer to purchase the painting at the recommended price of £650,000 (plus VAT of £130,000, which can be reclaimed by an eligible institution).The second deferral period will commence following the signing of an Option Agreement and will last for three months.