£29.7 Million for J.M.W. Turner’s "Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino" at Sotheby’s London

Included in the Evening Sale of Old Master & British Paintings that took place at Sotheby's London, on the 7th of this month, the oil painting "Modern Rome– Campo Vaccino", mesauring 90.2 by 122cm (35.5 by 48 in) and painted in 1839 by Joseph Mallord William Turner RA, was acquired for £29,721,250 / $44,935,558 / € 35,727,792 by Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, London Dealers, who bid for the work on behalf of The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California.

Firstly owned by Turner's close friend and patron scottish landowner and collector Hugh Munro of Novar, who bought the work directly from the artist at the Royal Academy exhibition of 1839, the painting was then acquired at auction by the 5th Earl of Rosebery (1847-1929) and his new wife Hannah Rothschild, while on their honeymoon, for the sum of 4,450 gns.

Last Seen on the Market in 1878 and loaned since 1978 to the National Gallery of Scotland, it was part of the recent exhibition "Turner and Italy".

With a pre-sale estimate value of £12-18 million (not including buyer’s premium) and sold for £29,7 million ( including buyer's premium), Modern Rome - Campo Vaccino has set a new auction record for the William Turner, former belonging to his view of Venice, Giudecca, La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio, set in 2006.

The fact that the painting was acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum is good news for all art lovers who will have the chance to continue to enjoy this masterpiece.