Bowood sends Reynolds painting for auction

From the Gazette & Herald, first published Thursday 6th May 2004.

GAZETTE & HERALD: LORD Lansdowne is being forced to sell an 18th century portrait to keep the Bowood estate afloat.

A portrait of Jane Baldwin by one of England's foremost artists, Sir Joshua Reynolds, will go to auction on July 1. It is expected to fetch between £3million and £4million.

The painting has hung in Bowood House since the 19th century but the present marquis decided to auction it to raise capital for the 2,000-acre estate.

Sotheby's is selling the picture on behalf of the Bowood Collection, a family trust set up by Lord Lansdowne to preserve his ancestral home.

But the painting was once the subject of some dispute. An exact replica of the painting was put up for sale six months ago by Christie's for around £1million. It came from an American private collector but it is now believed to have been painted by students of Reynolds.

The Bowood painting is thought to be Sir Joshua Reynolds own work. This was decided after Francis Russell, a senior director at Christie's, Martin Postle, a Reynolds expert from the Tate, and others took the replica painting to Bowood and placed it alongside Lord Lansdowne's portrait.

Days later Christie's withdrew its portrait from the sale.

Lord Lansdowne has defended his painting and said: "There is no doubt that the Portrait of Mrs Baldwin here, is the original Reynold's picture.

"The trust is selling it because the cost of running Bowood, the estate and more than 50 listed buildings and monuments has reached a point where resources are desperately short.

"It is as simple as that."

Mrs Baldwin was the daughter of an English merchant who enchanted Emperor Joseph I of Austria.

The Bowood Trust has had to sell various treasures over the years to raise millions to help with the maintenance of the estate.

Lord Lansdowne said the estate has only covered its losses once in the past 13 years.

"If we did not open it to the public the whole of the Bowood exhibition, a rare selection of watercolours, sculptures and porcelain, would disappear."

He said turning the estate into a leisure and tourist attraction had been the only way to secure its future.

When he took over the estate in 1972 it was an agricultural estate growing grain and potatoes and rearing sheep and cows.

"This was a traditional farming business. When I took over we had a £1.2million turnover and the profit we made in a year was £7,500."

Lord Lansdowne decided to open the estate to the public in 1975. In the 1980s he developed the golf and country club.

The estate is now hoping to develop an upmarket hotel and conference centre but negotiations with De Vere Hotels fell through last month.

"We have to start all over again and find another company to start negotiations with. It will happen one day. We already have outline planning permission," said Lord Lansdowne.

Meanwhile, the house and gardens continue to be open to the public.

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