Turner watercolour breaks UK record at auction
Published June 5th, 2006
A painting by JMW Turner has sold at auction for £5.8 million - a record for a British watercolour.
The Blue Rigi was sold to an anonymous telephone bidder after a 10-minute bidding battle at Christie’s in London.
The work, which Christie’s described as “the most important watercolour to appear at auction for over 50 years”, had been expected to fetch about £2m.
It features Lake Lucerne and the Rigi Mountain, in Switzerland, at sunrise, and was painted in 1842.
The previous record for a Turner watercolour on paper was £2.04m, fetched by Heidelberg with a Rainbow in 2001.
The Blue Rigi was bought in 1842 by its first owner for 80 guineas.
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