At Christie's

Approximately $100,000 was realized at an auction of 63 of the paintings from the collection of the Duke of Westminster (onetime owner of the Gainsborough Blue Boy), the top price being $32,550, paid by an anonymous Parisian dealer for The Repose of the Holy Family, by Nicolas Poussin. Murillo's St. John with the Lamb went for $9,375; Memling's Virgin and Child Enthroned to a New York dealer for $9,185 and Van Dyck's Virgin and Child with St. Catherine brought $17,750. The sensation of the sale occurred when three huge canvases by Rubens, part of a series ordered by Philip the Fourth, failed to draw a single bid. They were finally bought in by Westminster's representative for a nominal sum. Dealers agreed that "not half a dozen houses in the world" were big enough to accommodate these mammoth paintings and apparently there was no demand from museums or public buildings. Undoubtedly, many of the pictures purchased by continental 'dealers will find their way to the U. S. before long.