National Gallery aborts Chagall sale

Donor to pay Christie’s cancellation fee

OTTAWA — The National Gallery of Canada says it has reached an agreement with Christie’s auction house to abort the sale of a Marc Chagall painting.

The gallery says it will face no financial penalty for the reversal of a controversial decision to sell “The Eiffel Tower” in New York this month.

The gallery had faced criticism for saying it planned to sell the piece in order to fund its pursuit of a Jacques-Louis David masterpiece currently in Quebec.

At the time, the gallery said the painting — titled “Saint Jerome Hears the Trumpet of the Last Judgment” — was at risk of being sold to a foreign buyer.

It scrapped those plans in April after the Quebec government said it would keep the David in the country.

The gallery says a generous donor is paying a cancellation fee imposed by Christie’s. The donor has requested anonymity.

The gallery adds in a brief statement issued Thursday that it values “the passionate views we heard in recent days concerning this matter.”

That painting, purchased in 1956, was estimated to fetch $7.5 million to $11.3 million.