Minimum Disturbance

Last month Charles R. Henschel, president of august old Knoedler & Co.. went down to J. Pierpont Morgan's imposing Manhattan library. He had just been made agent for the private sale of a very important painting and wanted to give Mr. Morgan first crack at it. Puffing a black cigar. Banker Morgan smiled:

"I'm not interested in buying any more pictures. As a matter of fact, just the opposite."

Last week, trembling with excitement, Dealer Henschel summoned the Press to tell them the complete story. Through the Knoedler Galleries, Mr. Morgan had just sold six pictures from his private collection for a total of $1,500,000. It was the most important art sale since 1929 and 1930 when the Soviet Government, again through Dealer Henschel, disposed of 25 pictures from the Hermitage Museum for $12,000,000.

Morgan pictures sold and their prices:

A portrait of Anne of Austria by Rubens, and a triptych, St. Lawrence Enthroned by Filippo Lippi, to the Metropolitan Museum for $500,000.

A matching pair of portraits by Frans Hals of De Heer and Mevrouw Budolphe, to an anonymous collector for $300,000.

Sir Thomas Lawrence's Miss Farren, Countess of Derby, to another anonymous collector for $200,000.

Domenico Ghirlandajo's portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni, to still another anonymous collector for $500,000. One of twelve Ghirlandajos in the U. S.. this brilliant picture of the daughter of the great Florentine banking family was considered one of the most important in the entire Morgan collection. It was bought by the elder Morgan in 1907 for one-half of last week's price.

Not even the yellowest journals suggested that Banker Morgan was selling his pictures because he needed the money. When finally reached by the Press. Mr. Morgan frankly explained that he was selling his pictures because he understood that there was a good market for them, and because he was 67 years old.

"Any man," said he, "who has passed the age of 65 should show consideration for the executors of his estate by making it as convenient as possible for them to meet taxes and other expenses without having to resort to forced sales that might result in sacrifices. . . . These six pictures were chosen because they offered a means of raising a considerable sum of money with a minimum disturbance of my household effects. If less important objects had been sold, a larger number of them would have had to be removed and their absence would have been more noticeable."

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