Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Vanity or Investment: Garrick Club Buys Garrick Family Portraits

December 13, 2011 by Marion Maneker

Colin Gleadell reveals the buyer of the Zoffany paintings last week who is making an investment. At least, that’s what they’re telling their members:

 a pair of stylish paintings by Johann Zoffany of the actor David Garrick with his wife and entourage in the grounds of Hampton House on the River Thames. On loan to the Tate since 2007, they had been sent for sale by Edward Lampton, son of the Tory peer Antony Lampton, who died in 2006.

But what of their value? Estimated at quite a punchy £6 million for the pair, they sold to the only bidder in the room, John Morton Morris of dealers Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, for £6.76 million. The following day, members of the Garrick Club received an email informing them that they would now be able to enjoy the paintings as the club had bought them. The club bid for the paintings not just because of its connections with the sitter, but also as an investment.

According to an email from the club’s General Committee Chairman, they had taken advice from the club’s Investment Committee and elsewhere on the value of the paintings. “Members will be glad to know,” the email read, “the market value of the paintings is in excess of the ceiling which the committee placed on the bid and that resale, were it to become necessary, would pose no difficulty.” So perhaps the Garrick knows better than Sotheby’s who might buy these paintings for more.

Old master sales: when art restorers clean up (Telegraph)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Monet's Mid-Century ModernMonet's Mid-Century Modern
  • Sotheby's Russian Art = £14m ($23m)Sotheby's Russian Art = £14m ($23m)
  • The Big BenderThe Big Bender
  • How to Tell the Collectors They’ve Hung It Upside DownHow to Tell the Collectors They’ve Hung It Upside Down
  • PdP's Roller Coaster After RecessionPdP's Roller Coaster After Recession
  • Does the Richter Market Have Room for the $100m Ames Collection?Does the Richter Market Have Room for the $100m Ames Collection?

Filed Under: Collectors

About Marion Maneker

LiveArt

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor
 

Loading Comments...