AN OIL painting owned by the Earl of Halifax which officials decreed should never leave the country could be sold abroad after a bid for it from the National Gallery was rejected.After two years of negotiations with the gallery, which led to a £55m bid, the earl, who has featured in a list of the country’s richest people, may now “reluctantly” sell Titian’s Portrait of a Young Man on the open market, where it is expected to reach more than £65m.The painting is said to be on the “paramount list” of 35 artworks which should never be allowed to leave the country and art experts have said its loss would be “extremely regrettable”.It has been on long-term loan to the gallery since 1992 but Lord Halifax, 61, who lives at Garrowby Hall, near Pocklington, is said to have decided to sell in February 2003.

Lord Halifax, a close friend of the Prince of Wales, owns the 20,000-acre Garrowby Estate as well as a fine art collection, previously valued at £30m. He is a vice-chairman of Christie, Manson and Woods, the European division of Christie’s. It is expected that Christie’s will handle the sale of the Titian.

Posted: 09|8|05 at 8:24 am. Filed under: UK News.