Library's Painting Sold at Auction
for $4.5 Million
Bronxville (N.Y.) Public Library officials knew the 1892 painting by American impressionist Childe Hassam that had hung for half a century near the fireplace in the front reading room was valuable. Director Roxane Campagna told the New York Times December 15 that in 1980 it was appraised at $150,000; when its newest appraisal was upped to $4 million, the library decided to auction it at Christie's, where it sold December 2 for $4.5 million.
Titled Central Park, the 18-by-22-inch oil painting was among 30 willed to the library in 1947 by founding trustee William F. Burt. It depicts a mother and child near a pond in the park.
Having obtained a court judgment that selling the painting was consistent with Burt's wishes, the library plans to use the money to finance renovations for ADA compliance and to add space to the children's room and the stack area.
Posted December 21, 1998.
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