Poussin goes to the Kimbell
September 9 2011
Picture: Christie's
Nicolas Poussin's Sacrament of the Ordination, which was offered by the Duke of Rutland at Christie's last year, will now go on display at the Kimbell Museum in Texas. Carol Vogel in the New York Times has the story of what happened after it failed to sell:
What few people realized was that the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth was quietly keeping tabs on the painting. “We were watching it closely,” said Eric M. Lee, the Kimbell’s director. “But December was not the right time for us to buy it.”
When it didn’t sell, he added, he “felt it was too important a painting to pass up.” So Mr. Lee approached the museum’s trustees “to see if we could afford it.”
This summer the institution finally made a deal, paying $24.3 million — Christie’s low estimate — without the auction house’s steep buyer’s premium. Robert Holden, a fine-art agent based in London, and George Wachter, head of Sotheby’s old master painting department worldwide, represented the Kimbell.
I wonder how long it will take for the Duke's four remaining Sacrament paintings to end up at the Kimbell...
