Surplus Dutch Museum Art to Ebay

Part of the Dutch national art collection featuring some 1,000 paintings, statues, and other art objects has gone on sale through Internet auction site eBay, officials said Friday. "It is the first sale of this size," said Marina Raymakers of the Institute Collection Netherlands (ICN) which manages part of the Netherland's national art treasures. Five museums are also taking part in the initiative which has sparked outrage among some of the artists whose work is up for sale. "They called me the Picasso of Amsterdam. I did not paint rubbish," painter Robert Kruzdlo complained to the NRC Next newspaper. His work, "Fear and Powerlessness of the Third World War," is now on eBay because the ICN decided it was "without artistic merit and historic significance." On Friday the highest bid for the painting was $279.91. Between now and October 1,000 works of art, at the rate of 50 a week, will by auctioned on eBay. Raymakers said the government was not looking to make money from the art works but to get them off the state's hands. Details on the works for sale can be found on the Dutch eBay site (www.ebay.nl). (For full source and article click the Headline). Irish Art