LONDON — A sensuous Paul Gauguin painting of two Tahitian girls has been sold from a Swiss private collection for close to $300 million, one of the highest prices believed to have been paid for an artwork, according to European and American art world insiders with knowledge of the matter.
The sale of the 1892 oil painting, “Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?),” was confirmed by the seller, Rudolf Staechelin, 62, a retired Sotheby’s executive living in Basel, Switzerland, who owns more than 20 works in a valuable collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, including the Gauguin, which has been on loan to the Kunstmuseum in Basel for nearly a half-century.
Two dealers with knowledge of the matter, who declined to be named because of concerns over client confidentiality, identified Qatar as being the buyer of the painting, but Mr. Staechelin declined to say whether the new owner was from that tiny, oil-rich country. “I don’t deny it and I don’t confirm it,” Mr. Staechelin said, also declining to disclose the price.
–
With the passing of new generations, the family sold some paintings, including two Picasso works in 1967 that were purchased by the canton of Basel after voters agreed in a special referendum to pay for them. Picasso was so touched that he donated four more artworks to the canton.
In recent months, Mr. Staechelin said he fielded an offer from one museum that proposed to exhibit part of the collection. But he added that he preferred to find a new home for all the works. Buyers, he said, also contact him periodically about purchasing more works in the collection, but he is fending them off — for now.
“I have a lot of paintings and a little money,” Mr. Staechelin said. “I never saw these paintings as pure investments. It’s difficult if you look at a work and only see money because then something has gone terribly wrong. For me they are family history and art. But they are also security and investments.”
