The Master, Judd Tully, reports that Boilly’s Entrance to the Turkish Garden Cafe was bought by the Getty Museum:
“It is arguably the artist’s greatest picture,” said Scott Schaefer, senior curator of paintings at the J. Paul Getty Museum, moments after the sale, “and we paid the same price the seller did 20 years ago.”
The seller, prominent Australian art collector and retired media baron James Fairfax, acquired the work from London dealers Matthiesen in 1991. […] The actual bidding on the famed picture was handled not by Getty staff but by London dealer John Morton Morris of Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, from his seat at the back of the salesroom. Schaefer sat in the front row during the bidding, giving zero indication of any Getty interest. Morris was discreet about his client’s identity when speaking with ARTINFO after the sale, but frank about the work’s price. “I thought it was incredibly cheap,” he said.
Getty Drama at Christie’s Sale (ArtInfo)
