Masterpiece paintings, including two Rubens, from the Beit Collection are to be auctioned in London to raise funds for Russborough House, Co. Wicklow, Ireland – where the paintings are situated. You can sign a petition (which I did) to halt the sale of these paintings so that they remain where they are in Ireland.

Click on this link to sign the appeal:
http://www.irishartsreview.com/sign-the-iar-petition-to-keep-the-beit-paintings-in-ireland/

Below is an excerpt from the Irish Times‘s article about the auction:

“Old master” paintings worth millions of euro from the Beit Collection at Russborough House, County Wicklow, are to be sold by auction at Christie’s in London to raise urgently needed funds for the upkeep of the stately home.

The paintings and the house were left in trust to the people of Ireland by the late Sir Alfred and Lady Beit, an English aristocratic couple who became honorary Irish citizens in 1993.

Some of the paintings to be auctioned were among those stolen and recovered by gardaí and overseas police forces following major art robberies at the house on four occasions over 30 years between 1974 and 2002.

The most notorious heists were by an IRA gang in 1974, led by British heiress Rose Dugdale, and in 1986 by Dublin criminal Martin “the General” Cahill.

The sale of the paintings, including six by Flemish and Dutch “old masters”, could raise over €11 million but could sell for more as the global art market is in an unprecedented boom.

Among them are two works by Rubens, a Flemish painter who died in 1640 who is the most expensive “old master” in the world art market. Most of his major paintings are in the world’s leading art galleries and museums.

Excerpt taking from:
http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/fine-art-antiques/beit-paintings-russborough-house-old-masters-for-auction-1.2194249