Turner May Reach £18m

A vision of Rome shimmering in hazy evening light by JMW Turner, once bought by a future prime minister on his honeymoon, is to be auctioned at Sotheby's this summer, when it is estimated to make up to £18m, The Guardian reports. Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino - the last and one of the greatest in the artist's 20 year series of views of the city, has only been sold twice in 171 years, and is still in the family of the 5th Earl of Rosebery. It was bought by Turner's friend and patron Hugh Munro from the Royal Academy of Art exhibition in 1839 where it was first shown, and then in 1878 by Lord Rosebery and his new wife, Hannah Rothschild, for the astounding price of 4,450 guineas – but then she was the only child of the millionaire banker Baron Meyer de Rothschild. Sotheby's described the painting as one of the last Turner masterpieces in private hands. For full source and full article click the Headline). Irish Art