24/10/2001

Sotheby’s.com, the on-line site of the US owned auction house is offering a newly discovered painting by Sir Frederick Lord Leighton in an internet-only sale on the 29th of November. The painting comes from the Estate of Mildred H. Boink, of Indiana and is expected to fetch up to $ 200,000-300,000 (€ 222,260-333,390). According to the Daily Telegraph the vendor’s family believed the painting to be worth only a few hundred dollars as it was signed by someone called Bart. However "Bart" is an abbreviation of "Baronet" (another form of the word Lord) and the painting has now been confirmed as being a work by Sir Frederic Lord Leighton. Research has also shown that it was exhibited at the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition in London in 1897. Benjamin Doller, of Sotheby's, said: "In this superb double portrait, the artist's handling of drapery and colour clearly mimics the same usage for which he is so well known in his large scale classical works." (Andrew Moore)