Bellottos on the block
December 14 2014
Picture: Arts Council
Two important paintings by Bernardo Bellotto of the Fortress of Konigstein have been put on the Arts Council's 'Notification of Intention to Sell' page, which a price tag of £20,500,000. This means that the owner, identified to me by readers as the Earl of Derby, has had to notify the Treasury that he intends to sell paintings that have until now been conditionally exempt from death duties - that is, death tax was not paid on them, but deferred until a sale is made, on condition that the pictures are sometimes put on public display. The 'notification' gives any potentially interested museums a heads up for fundraising.
