San Francisco Public Library
Involved in Art Dispute with Mexico
The San Francisco Public Library could be forced to return a painting it received as a gift from the Mexican government because the artist was never paid his promised $15,000 fee.
Mexican-born artist Enrique Chagoya, now an assistant art professor at Stanford University, was commissioned by then–Consul General Cesar Lajud to do a charcoal-and-pastel drawing featuring Latin American authors for the library. Lajud’s successor Carlos Tello, who served until the election of President Vicente Fox in 2000, promised at a ribbon-cutting for the painting that his government would live up to its commitment, the San Francisco Chronicle reported October 18.
The Mexican Cultural Institute eventually sent $2,000 in response to a letter from the city’s arts commission, but indicated they could not guarantee the rest and expressed their unwillingness to accept responsibility for “decisions of the past.” City Librarian Susan Hildreth wrote a letter to Mexico’s ambassador in Washington threatening to return the painting “should the question of payment continue to be unresolved.” Hildreth finally received a call in November from the San Francisco deputy consul general. “Out of the blue, he said they want to address our concerns,” she reported.
“It’s embarrassing for everyone to have this sitting in our library unpaid for,” Commissioner Charles Higueras said in the Chronicle. “It makes me feel very uncomfortable.”
Posted November 25, 2002.
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