“Two centuries’ worth of dealing in everything from Rembrandt to Bacon has left Agnew’s with what must be one of the most important and valuable art-historical archives in the country,” says Bendor Grosvenor, who works for the Old Master and British art dealer Philip Mould in London. The archive contains stock ledgers, which are vital for researching provenances related to the gallery’s specialist areas.
“The question is, of course, where will the archive go?” asks Grosvenor on his blog Art History News, adding that a likely bidder is the Getty Institute in Los Angeles, which runs a provenance research centre. “Of course, one would prefer the archive to remain in the UK, and it seems unlikely that it will easily get an export licence if it is sold abroad,” he says.