Focus on this artwork and explain the Later history.
By the 18th century Head of a Bear was in the collection of the British painter Sir Thomas Lawrence. Upon Lawrence's death in 1830 it passed to his art dealer Samuel Woodburn. In 1860 Woodburn sold the drawing at Christie's auction house in London for £2.50.  Woodburn sold Studies of a Dog's Paw in the same sale.  Head of a Bear entered the collection of Norman Colville by the early 20th century.  It was exhibited for the first time in 1937 and was included in  Bernard Berenson's 1938 book The Drawings of the Florentine Painters.In 2008 the work was purchased by the American billionaire Thomas Kaplan. He purchased it on the basis of a faxed copy sent to him by London-based dealer Johnny van Haeften. Kaplan was principally a collector of Dutch Old Master paintings, but van Haeften suggested the Leonardo drawing to him as Kaplan's son was named Leonardo. Kaplan allowed the drawing to be exhibited alongside the Lady with an Ermine at the National Gallery in 2011 and at the Long Museum in Shanghai. On 8 July 2021 Kaplan sold Head of a Bear at Christie's in London. It was given an estimate of £8–12 million but sold for £7.5 m (£8.8m with fees). It attracted only one bid, placed in person by a young American man and woman, who also purchased an autographed manuscript by Sir Isaac Newton for £1.7 million (including fees). The auction house's only comment on the buyer's identity was that it was a family trust. Head of a Bear remains one of only eight known Leonardo drawings in private hands (excluding those in the British Royal Collection and the Devonshire Collection). The 2021 sale was the first of a Leonardo drawing since Horse and Rider was sold, also at Christie's, in 2001 for £8.1 million (including fees). Head of a Bear set a new record for a Leonardo drawing, which had previously been set by the 2001 sale.
Long Museum Lady with an Ermine Devonshire Collection Norman Colville Johnny van Haeften Isaac Newton Christie's Bernard Berenson Thomas Kaplan Royal Collection National Gallery Old Master Thomas Lawrence