Sir Peter Paul Rubens – Portrait of a Bearded Man (£2-3 million) © Christie’s Images Limited 2015
It looks as if the Rubens from Russborough and other artworks scheduled to auctioned at Christie’s last July have now been rescued for the relatively impecunious Irish state. Rubens Head of a Bearded Man was the main lot in a planned sale of works from Russborough in Co. Wicklow designed to raise funds to maintain the house and grounds. It is reported that the businessman Denis O’Brien has bought the Rubens for more than two million euro, though he has refused to confirm this.
The Russborough Foundation said the process of finding donors for the works is ongoing. Under the S1003 scheme designed to encourage donations to Irish cultural institutions a taxpayer can write off 80% of the purchase cost with a ceiling of six million in respect of any single year. It is also reported that businessman John Gallagher has paid just under one million for another one of the works, The Adoration of the Shepherds by Adriaen Van Ostade, with the intention that it goes on display at the National Gallery. The businessman Lochlann Quinn has already acquired A Village Kermesse near Antwerp by David Teniers the Younger from the Russborough collection for the National Gallery. All the works had been in storage and had not been seen in public for many years.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for May 1, 2015).