Titian: Portrait of a young man, c.1515/20

Titian’s “Portrait of a young man” still for sale

The thriller continues: the “Portrait of a young man” , an extremely beautiful work by Titian owned by the Earl of Halifax, and exhibited in the National Gallery of London since 1992, it’s still for sale, and the directors of the London Gallery -and the whole British Art world- begin to have serious fears that the painting can be sold to a foreign buyer, given the interest that a painting like this provokes in the international Art market (remember that a similar quality Titian, the “Portrait of Alfonso d’Avalos” , was acquired by the Getty Museum for $70 million two years ago)

In the past October, the National Gallery of London emitted a public statement declaring that the possible sale of the portrait to a foreign buyer would be “a great loss to the UK public”, and underlined the joint efforts made during two years by the National Gallery of London and the National Gallery of Scotland with a view to a joint acquisition, saving it to the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, the high price of the painting (estimated in excess of £50 million) makes the acquisition impossible.

The precedents, however, are quite encouraging: the ” Madonna of the pinks” by Raphael was saved for the UK in 2003, after an agreement between its owners and the National Gallery. Also, in 1999, the auction of the ” Madonna and child enthroned” by Cimabue was stopped a few days before the date, after accepting its owners the offer of £6.5 million (far below its estimate price at auction) made by the National Gallery.

The National Gallery of Scotland was able to keep the extremely beautiful “Madonna of the pinks” by Botticelli when the agreement between its owners and the Kimbell Art Museum was almost done. Also, another work by Titian, a “Venus” previously owned by the Duke of Sutherland, was also saved for the nation.

Will the directors of the British Galleries find the money necessary to keep this work in the United Kingdom ? Or will the Titian be part of the artistic exodus, doing its way to a private collection overseas?