PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) - One of the two Norman Rockwell paintings at the center of a Massachusetts museum’s contentious decision to sell 40 works of art has been sold at auction for more than $8 million.
“Blacksmith’s Boy - Heel and Toe,” also known as “Shaftsbury Blacksmith Shop,” was sold by Sotheby’s in New York on Wednesday for $8.1 million, within the expected $7 million to $10 million range.
Rockwell gave the oil painting to the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield in 1966 as a gift when he was living in nearby Stockbridge.
The decision by the struggling museum to sell 40 works drew widespread condemnation and sparked legal challenges.
Under a deal, another Rockwell painting, “Shuffleton’s Barbershop” was sold to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles for an undisclosed price.
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