MOVIES : ART

Britain on Thursday blocked the export of one of the most expensive paintings in the world after determining that the work by Frenchman Edouard Manet was a national asset. The decision announced by Arts Minister Richard Luce gives a British institution another chance to buy “La Rue Mosnier aux Paveurs,” which sold for $12.1 million at a London auction on Dec. 1. James Butler, grandson of collector Samuel Courtauld, sold the 1878 painting to an unnamed European buyer, setting a record for an Impressionist work. A British institution now has six weeks to show serious interest and six months to come up with $12.3 million to buy the painting.