How much is a Titian worth ?

We have bought a Titian 'Diana and Actaeon' for £50 million from the Duke of Sutherland : the painting had been housed in the National Gallery of Scotland for 65 years, presumably with the advantage to the owner of the public paying for insurance, security and restoration all those years.

The Scottish Government has pledged £12.5m, £7.4m has come from public donations and £12.5m has come from National Galleries in London.
The rest of the money has come from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, which has given £10m; the Monument Trust has pledged £2m; £4.6m has come from the National Galleries of Scotland and £1m was secured from the Art Fund.

It seems likely that these funds, in Scotland at least, will be drained for some time to come, with less money available for other cultural projects.

It has also been made public that another Titian 'Diana and Callisto' will be sold in a few years. The duke will apparently (according to the Times and the Guardian) gain a significant tax advantage through this sale, as well as the cash !

Is it worth it ? The painting may very well be worth the cost on the open market, but in a small country like Scotland, with limited funds for culture, one must question the sense of the purchase.

Being paid ...

As an artist I hardly paint for remuneration : I paint for satisfaction, to express new visual ideas, develop new colour combinations, many reasons. But when your work sells, you do want to be paid for it. Maybe it is the current more difficult times we live in, but for some reason I seem to have some difficulty in receiving the money I am owed for paintings. Is it just me ? Does anyone have any suggestions ?

Even more on liquin ...

My paintings are now in progress but to be honest I am not entirely happy with the finish using liquin. They have a rather matt appearance, I quite like the gloss you get using linseed oil.