The Gross Clinic, by Thomas Eakins, sold for a record price

Thomas Eakins: “The Gross clinic”, 1875

The Gross Clinic, by Thomas Eakins, sold for a record price

The Art market is still breaking records, and this time the protagonist is not one of those modern and contemporary names you will find in every record list. “The Gross clinic”, an oil on canvas by Thomas Eakins, signed and dated 1875, and described by a New York critic as “the most beautiful American painting of the 19th century” (personally I don’t agree with this affirmation) has been acquired by the National Gallery of Washington and the new Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (the future home of Asher Brown Durand’s “Kindred spirits”) for $68 million, setting a new record for a 19th century American painting. The painting was previously owned by the Thomas Jefferson University

Nevertheless, this exceptional painting is not of the top 10 most expensive paintings of all time, as you can see in theartwolf’s monthly updated list