French Art for the French - TIME

Despite France's jealously protective stance toward the nation's artistic reputation, contemporary French art has been streaming out of the country and into the hands of foreign buyers at an alarming rate in recent years.

The government of President Nicolas Sarkozy was already on the case — even before nude photos of First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy were auctioned in London last week to a Chinese investor for $91,000.

France's Culture Ministry has announced measures aimed at reversing the general lack of interest among the French in buying art — a deficiency some fear is slowly bleeding an enormous vein of national culture dry.