Carol Vogel explains how Poussin’s Ordination, which was a very visible casualty during last Autumn’s Old Master sale at Christie’s in London, will go on view at the Kimbell Museum next week. Hint: the private deal was arranged by a rival:
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. […]
For the Kimbell the acquisition of “Ordination” is particularly important. “The ‘Seven Sacraments’ are a landmark of Western painting,” Mr. Lee said. “And this is one of the most significant old master paintings to have come on the market for years.”
The painting, which goes on view at the Kimbell on Wednesday
Inside Art: A Christie’s Loss is the Kimbell’s Gain (New York Times)
