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The agreement, announced in February, was to loan 112 Turner landscapes to China for an exhibition that opened earlier this month in Beijing's National Art Museum of China. The exchange was to be part of a "wider approach to building understanding between the two countries."

But much of the promised commercial sponsorship for the show fell through after the British government had already sent the paintings. Organizers managed to raise only £100 million in commercial insurance, a fraction of the collection's estimated value of £650 million, and the Chinese government refused to cover the rest, leaving the British government responsible. The British Foreign Office made an emergency request to the treasury for permission to underwrite the collection, meaning that if any works are damaged during their stay in Beijing, taxpayer money will be used to cover the costs of restoration.

"The intention was for the cost of the exhibition and its insurance to be covered by private sponsorship," said Caroline Flint, the U.K. minister for Europe. "Prearranged commercial sponsorship was affected by the economic downturn and although the [British] Council sought replacement, it had not been forthcoming."

"J.M.W. Turner: Oils and Watercolours" runs in Beijing through August.