Patrick Hosking provided some intriguing information about the value of Titians in the current (almost non-existent) market.
The most that any Titian has ever fetched at auction is £7.48m – in 1991
Only 5 paintings have ever fetched more than £50m, all by 20th century artists
The last Titian on the open market, in 2005, failed to reach its £5m reserve
No painting has ever been sold for as much as £150m
So it seems strange that we are being invited to contribute towards the £100m being asked for 2 Titians, said to be worth £300m the pair
Actually I always have trouble with the notion of saving paintings for the nation. ‘We’ acquired them when ‘we’ (in this case the Duke of Bridgewater, he of the canals & the new home of the Hallé) were the oligarchs of the day, so it seems only right that we bow to those of our own day
