Tuesday, August 10, 2010

John William Waterhouse - St Cecilia 1895






John William Waterhouse's painting, St. Cecilia, was sold to an "unknown Russian buyer," in 2008 and now is in a private collection. The painting, which holds the record for the highest auction result for a 19th Century, non-Impressionist work, was purchased by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Art Foundation in 2000 for £ 6.6 million, or roughly, $10,000,000 USD.

There was some fuss about this in 2008 and its tax status:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/3534690/Andrew-Lloyd-Webber-facing-court-battle-over-6.6million-painting.html
later
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6614561/Lord-Lloyd-Webber-settles-gift-aid-dispute-over-painting-with-1.5m-payment-to-taxman.html

St. Cecilia, which was available for museum loans through the Webber Foundation, was on display at Moscow's State Tretyakov Gallery in May of 2008, where undoubtedly, it was seen by its new owner.
http://visualrian.com/lists/item/11722

It surfaced briefly in the John William Waterhouse retrospective exhibition but I can't track it after that.

About the subject of the painting
http://www.jwwaterhouse.com/view.cfm?recordid=67

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