Taking Paintings Out of the Country

[gsi16386]

Hey guys, this prob won't apply to most of you, but I just thought I'd throw it out there for future reference.

I came into BA last week with a painting of myself and my now fiance because I was planning on proposing to her and it was one of the many gifts that I showered her with. The painting was about 6'x4' and painted by my brother.

When I tried to fly out of EZE this AM to go back to Miami they wouldn't let me leave with the painting. They said that I needed to register it with Aduanos en el Centro because they didn't know whether or not I was stealing fine art (and the damn thing was a painting of me, hardly fine art). They almost didn't let me leave with the painting until I pitched a fit. I almost missed my flight and almost couldn't leave with the painting I entered the country with a week prior.

Has anyone experienced anything similar? Having a self portrait of myself and my fiance just wasn't something I thought I needed tramites for...

 

[LaurenW]

Yes, when I passed the security at the airport in July they asked me for my tramites/forms for exporting art out of the country. Thankfully I had done the process as I had been advised by other artists. It isn't that difficult (2-3 1 hour errands) and it is free. message me if you want details.

It is so characteristic of Arg that they would have a complicated process for keeping these national treasures inside the borders... I painted in Italy (which may have a couple more masterpieces than Arg) and brought out all my work no problem, no paperwork, no questions.

Glad you escaped with your painting in tow! And congrats!

 

[earlyretirement]

You're lucky they let you leave with it. They are very strict and difficult about this. Even in cases when it's clear that it's not valuable artwork or national treasures.

I had a few friends that also had problems. In each case it was just cheap artwork. One of them had to call the transfer company that just brought him to the airport and he was able to just give it to hold until the next time he came back to BA.

Another person I know I think just pitched it as he wasn't planning to come back to Buenos Aires and it wasn't valuable and he didn't pay much at all for it.

I'm not sure what they do with this stuff if they don't allow you to leave with it. Does anyone know if they will just store it and give you a claim check or something? I was always curious about that.