Cleveland art museum to auction European paintings

[January 17, 2011]  CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Cleveland Museum of Art plans to offer more than two dozen European old master paintings as part of an auction in late January.

The Plain Dealer reports it's the largest sell-off from the museum's collection in more than 50 years.

The museum's chief curator says the 32 works don't fit well with the Cleveland museum but could have a place elsewhere. They'll be offered at Sotheby's in New York over two days, starting Jan. 27. The auction house estimates the pieces are worth a total of roughly $700,000 to more than $1 million.

The most valuable paintings among them are two depicting an ancient Roman battle. They're expected to generate $200,000 or more. Most of the works are by minor masters and are expected to bring in much smaller amounts.

___

Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com/

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.