Turner's Rome Returns to Sotheby's With £50M Estimate

J.M.W. Turner's view of Rome is back on the market with a price that could double its own auction record.

Sotheby's in London expects Rome, from Mount Aventine to sell for around £50 million (€58 million, US$66.18 million), according to ARTnews. The house says that figure would break the Turner auction record set by the same picture when it last sold in 2014.

The picture dates from 1835. Sotheby's lists it as oil on canvas, unlined, measuring 92.7 x 125.7 cm (36½ x 49½ in). That is a little over three feet high and four feet wide. Large enough to take in at a distance.

You will not have to be in London to see it first. The painting will be shown in Hong Kong and New York before the sale in London. The tour gives the public and potential bidders a chance to stand in front of it before auction day.

The seller is not named. Sotheby's lists the consignor, the person or collection putting the work up for sale, only as a Distinguished Private Collection. That is routine when an owner wants to stay out of the spotlight.

The painting has history in the saleroom. Ahead of its December 2014 sale it carried an estimate, the auction house's published price expectation, of £15 million to £20 million. That range was reported at the time as US$23.5 million to US$31.3 million.

It beat that range by some distance. It sold for £30,322,500, a record for Turner at auction. Reuters reported the 2014 price as US$47.47 million.

Other Turners have drawn strong prices since. Sotheby's past results show Ehrenbreitstein realised £18,533,750. That is well below the £30.3 million paid for Rome, from Mount Aventine.

What makes this stand out for a first-time follower is the rematch. Same painting. Same record on the line. Twelve years on, the expectation has moved from £15 million to £20 million to around £50 million.

The sale details to watch are simple. Around £50 million to beat. £30.3 million to beat it from.