A UK export licence has been deferred on a £13.5m Cézanne that was recently sold by the Courtauld family. View of L’Estaque and the Château d’If (1883-85) was bought by Samuel Courtauld in 1936, passed down the family and sold to the New York dealer Nancy Whyte in Christie’s, London saleroom for £13.5m in February 2015. An export licence has now been deferred until 21 December to allow a UK buyer to match the price. The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, which had the work on loan for nearly 30 years, would like to acquire the Cézanne but a spokeswoman says that despite tax concessions the price is prohibitive. Likewise, the Courtauld Gallery feels it would be unable to raise the funds.
