Wow! A Turner to Be Auctioned!

I am hot hot hot for Turner - have been for years, since I first saw a few of his paintings in some of those cheesy coffee-table art books more than 30 years ago. He does something with light that I've never seen any other artist ever duplicate. Unfortunately, I cannot even afford to buy a scrap from a Turner painting. This one will start at $10 million! Ohmygoddess! From The New York Times Arts, Briefly Turner Landscape to Be Auctioned Compiled by LAWRENCE VAN GELDER Published: April 25, 2008 A landscape by the British master J. M. W. Turner will be offered at auction by Sotheby’s in London on July 9 at a starting price of $10 million, Reuters reported. The oil-on-canvas painting, “Pope’s Villa at Twickenham,” a depiction of the destruction of the poet Alexander Pope’s house, was bought by the art patron John Leicester in 1808 as soon as it went on view in Turner’s gallery. In 1827 Leicester sold it to the collector James Morrison, whose descendants have passed it from generation to generation. Referring to the artist’s interest in Pope’s house, Emmeline Hallmark, head of British art at Sotheby’s, said Turner “couldn’t understand how an artifact from the past could be wantonly destroyed.” The proceeds will help pay for the restoration of Sudeley Castle, where the work has hung for 40 years.