An 1839 landscape by J.M.W. Turner sold for a staggering $44.9 million at Sotheby’s Old Masters sale, which realized a hefty $81.3 million, easily eclipsing the results of its rival, Christie’s. Turner’s “Modern Rome – Camp Vaccino” realized almost double its high estimate. Nothing else in the sale registered the same impact, although works by Peter Brueghel the Younger and Jan Blievens each sold for $3.81 million.
The Turner was once in the collection of British Prime Minister Archibald Primrose, and had been expected to sell for $18.2 – 27.2 million, an estimate some considered modest. The strong Sotheby’s sale closes out the busy summer art sales on a positive note, after the mixed success of earlier auctions in Impressionist, Postwar, Modern, and Contemporary Art.
Read more at Art Info.
