Turner sale may set record for UK painting
Published March 31st, 2006
A view of Venice by Joseph Mallord William Turner is in the running to become the most expensive British painting ever sold at auction when it goes under the hammer at Christie’s in New York next week.
The auction house this week lifted its estimate on the painting to more than $20m (€16.6m, £11.5m) after a higher than expected level of interest was shown in the work, titled “Giudecca, La Donna della Salute and San Giorgioâ€. The world record for a British painting is $21.3m for John Constable’s “The Lockâ€, set in 1990. However, that price includes the buyers’ premium. Estimates do not include the buyers’ premium.
Nicholas Hall, the international head of Old Masters at Christie’s, said: “The interest has been enormous, from collectors, dealers, museums. I think there is every chance it will beat [the Constable]â€.
The sale shows that the worldwide boom in the art market is lifting prices in almost all sectors of art.
Turner is a pre-eminent member of the Old Masters, prices for which have in recent years been fairly flat as they fell out of fashion. However, Christie’s reported that next week’s Old Masters sale, in which it expects to sell more than $50m of paintings, will be its biggest ever.
