TURNER'S MODERN ROME - CAMPO VACCINO made a new record for the artist. David Moore-Gwyn of Sotheby’s remarked that for collectors it ticked all the boxes – quality, superb condition, provenance and freshness-to-the-market. (click on image to enlarge)
J.M.W. Turner’s 1839 masterpiece Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino sold for a record £29,721,250 / €35,727,792 at Sotheby’s in London on July 7. It was bought by Hazlett, Gooden & Fox on behalf of The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The previous record for a Turner was £20.5 million set in 2006.
This was the top selling lot in the summer evening sale of Old Master & British Paintings which brought in an above estimate total of £53,484,350 / €64,293,316 and established nine new artist records for Turner, Jan Lievens, Bernard van Orley, Barnaba da Modena, Ludwig Schongauer, Paul Bril, James Ward, Francesco di Simone da Santa Croce and Ottavio Vannini. Buyers came from 15 different countries.
On the previous evening in London a painting by Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens made nine million pounds at Christie’s. “A Commander being armed for Battle,” was painted in 1613 or 1614 and had been at Althorp, ancestral home of Princess Diana, for over 200 years. The Christie’s sale brought in 42.3 million pounds.