In the context of Afternoon Tea, explain the Acquisition of the Historical information.
Afternoon Tea was vigorously pursued by IMA curator Ellen Lee to flesh out the museum's American Impressionism collection. Her research confirmed that it was a long-lost Miller masterpiece mentioned in the artist's scrapbook but not seen for years. Thus, she convinced IMA benefactors Jane and Andrew Paine to bid on it on December 4, 1997, at Christie's New York auction house, in the middle of an exciting week that also saw the museum acquire an important (and costly) Belgian Neo-Impressionist painting and an early Netherlandish triptych. The final price was $1,047,500, considerably higher than the initial estimate of $500,000–$700,000. It is currently on view as a promised gift in the American gallery with the accession number 1997.139.
Impressionism American Impressionism Christie's Impressionist Netherlandish Neo-Impressionist triptych