Earl of Harewood sells Lady Worsley by Reynolds for about £25m
February 2 2025
Picture: Harewood House via Facebook
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A reader has very kindly drawn my attention to big news published by the FT that the Earl of Harewood has sold Sir Joshua Reynolds' iconic portrait of Lady Worsley to the US private equity executive Steve Schwarzman for 'about £25m'. Schwarzman, co-founder of private equity group Blackstone, has purportedly been amassing a serious art collection for his Conholt Park in Wiltshire, a property which he is in the process of restoring. Alongside the Harewood Reynolds, which the paper describes as having been acquired through a private sale brokered by Christie's, Schwarzman has also acquired Thomas Gainsborough's full-length portrait of Lady Bate-Dudley (through the London dealers Simon C Dickinson), which until recently was on loan from a private collection to Tate Britain.
According to the article linked above:
The billionaire declined to comment this week but people close to the transactions confirmed that he was the buyer of both works. The Lascelles family decided to sell the Reynolds’ portrait to help cover the upkeep of Harewood House after receiving an anonymous offer through Christie’s private sales department. [...]
Representatives of Schwarzman have made approaches to other owners of rare 18th century paintings, according to people with knowledge of the London market. Sales have been made easier by the fact that he is not applying for export licences for the works, so there is no risk of any deal being blocked by the UK government.
