Rare drawing owned by Rugby School sells for world record £11.5m at auction - The Rugby Observer

Rare drawing owned by Rugby School sells for world record £11.5m at auction

Rugby Editorial 5th Dec, 2018   0

A RARE drawing owned by Rugby School sold for £11.5million at auction in London this week.

Lucas Van Leyden’s ‘A Young Man Standing’ smashed its pre-sale estimate of £1.5million and set a new world record for the 16th century Dutch artist when it went under the hammer.

Record breaker – Lucas van Leyden’s ‘A Young Man Standing’.

It was among some 200 lots put up for sale by the school which in total fetched just short of £14,800,000 at world-famous London auction house Christie’s on Tuesday (December 4).

Having chosen the lots to ensure nothing vital to the school’s history would be sold, part of the auction windfall will pay for a new museum housing memorabilia relating to the invention of rugby football, together with remaining artworks owned by the school.




Headmaster Peter Green said: “We are very grateful to those benefactors who bequeathed such an impressive collection of artworks to Rugby School, and we are delighted with the outcome of the sale.

“We shall be using a portion of the proceeds to create a newly designated museum space at the school site for that part of the collection which is intrinsic to the history of the school and which was not part of the auction.


“This will allow us to ensure that the remaining collections and the school archives are correctly stored and preserved, and are also appropriately displayed for the wider benefit of the Rugbeian community.

“The school’s governing body will now consider how to ensure the rest of the proceeds are used to benefit the school’s current and future students in keeping with the benefactors’ wishes.”

The sale ‘Old Master and British drawings’ also included watercolours, books and manuscripts, antiquities, sculpture and chinese ceramics, many of which had been at the school for more than 100 years.

Another highlight of the sale was the recently re-discovered drawing ‘Perseus and Andromeda’ by Sir Edward John Poynter which fetched just short of £333,000 – double its estimate and a new record for the 19th century English artist.

‘Perseus and Andromeda’ by Sir Edward Poynter – which set a new record for the 19th century English artist.

Jane Blood, Christie’s head of sale, said: “It has been a great pleasure and privilege to have been entrusted with the sale of works of art from Rugby School.

“New and existing collectors, institutions and Rugbeians alike have participated across all categories and we are delighted that some of the proceeds will go towards a new museum space for Rugby School to inspire collectors of the future.”

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