Focus on this artwork and explore the 2013 sale.
Saying Grace sold for $46 million (including a buyer's premium) at Sotheby's in December 2013, setting a new record price for Rockwell's art. Rockwell's previous record had been set in 2006 by the $15 million sale of Breaking Home Ties. Saying Grace had been expected to sell for between $15 million and $20 million. The buyer of Saying Grace was not identified.Two other Rockwell paintings that had been loaned to the Norman Rockwell Museum were sold alongside Saying Grace; The Gossips and Walking to Church. The three paintings, along with four other art works by Rockwell, were sold by the descendants of Kenneth J. Stuart, the art director of The Saturday Evening Post. The sale of the art works was initiated after the conclusion of a legal disagreement among Stuart's sons. A long term colleague of Rockwell's, Stuart had been given the paintings by Rockwell as a gift. Saying Grace had hung in Stuart's office at the Saturday Evening Post, and subsequently in the Stuarts' living room in Wilton, Connecticut. Stuart's sons could no longer afford the insurance and upkeep of the paintings by the time of their 2013 sale.Upon Stuart's death in 1993, his estate was divided equally among his three sons, Ken Jr., William, and Jonathan. The oldest brother, Ken Jr., was subsequently sued by William and Jonathan, who claimed that he had forced their father to sign papers so he could gain control of his fortune. They additionally claimed that Ken Jr. had used the assets of his father's estate for his own expenses. The three brothers settled out of court before the sale. The owner of The Saturday Evening Post, Curtis Publishing Company, which retains reproduction rights to Rockwell's artworks, also unsuccessfully attempted to claim ownership of the paintings.The director of the Norman Rockwell Museum, Laurie Norton Moffatt, has expressed her hope that the paintings will eventually be reunited with the museum. Moffatt said of the paintings that "We cared for them like children ... We hope they come back some day. We believe that's where they belong." Moffatt said that the loss of the paintings left an "irreplaceable hole in the museum's collection."
Breaking Home Ties Curtis Publishing Company Norman Rockwell Museum art director Walking to Church The Saturday Evening Post Sotheby's Wilton, Connecticut Norman Rockwell