Stubbs Painting Sells For Millions

Gimrack-01.jpg
Published: July 6, 2011 11:33 am EDT

On Tuesday, July 5 during Christie's Old Master & British Paintings auction in London, England, George Stubbs' 1765 masterpiece 'Gimcrack on Newmarket Heath, with a Trainer, a Stable-Lad, and a Jockey' sold for £22.4 million, which works out to (US) $35.9 million

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A report by bloomberg.com states that the six-foot (1.8-metre) canvas was purchased by a single bid, which came from the New York gallerist Piers Davies Fine Art. The report states that the sale had been ensured by a third-party guarantor.

The painting is a combination of two images: Gimcrack racing and being rubbed down. The horse was a popular and exceptional performer in the 18th century which triumphed in 28 of his 36 career races and missed the board just once.

The bloomberg.com article has quoted London dealer Edmondo di Robilant as saying, “I’m surprised that yesterday’s taste is still selling at auction,” and that “Though they might not be performing as well as they were 10 or 20 years ago, they’re still finding buyers, usually at prices that are too high for the trade.”

An article by Reuters has cited Christie's as stating that the purchase placed Stubbs third in the old master auction ranking behind 'The Massacre of the Innocents' by Peter Paul Rubens, which fetched £49.5 million at Sotheby's in 2002, and 'Modern Rome - Campo Vaccino' by J.M.W. Turner which raised £29.7 million at Sotheby's in 2010.

Months before the auction, Christie's Spokesman John Stainton was quoted as saying that 'Gimrack' "is unquestionably one of Stubbs' most important paintings and one of the greatest racing pictures ever painted."

(With files from Reuters and bloomberg.com)

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