A portrait by Jean-Honoré Fragonard of a French general fetched nearly $30 million, a world record price for the artist, at an auction held on December 5 at Bonhams in London. The works offered were provided by Unicef Germany and had been a part of what was once one of Europe’s largest private art collections. The entire sale garnered $31 million for the charity.
The works belonged to Dr. Gustav Rau, a German philanthropist and doctor who donated his collection to Unicef in 2001. For over a decade the collection has been embroiled in legal battles as some believe that Rau, who died in 2002, was not mentally fit during the time of the transaction. While the most recent court case deemed the transfer legitimate, Swiss authorities are currently reviewing the deal after a complaint was filed by the council in the district of Bülach, where the collection was once stored.
Unicef expects to net $161 million this year thanks to a series of sales from Rau’s collection.
