The Denovan Adam Pictures – Purchase of “Balmoral” by the Corporation, December 1896
Joseph Denovan Adam, Balmoral, Autumn, oil on canvas. Reproduced courtesy of Glasgow Museums.
A short notice on page six of The Glasgow Herald, on Tuesday the 15th of December, 1896, informed readers that Balmoral, the large painting by the late James Denovan Adam (1841-96), which was included in the collection to be auctioned that day, had been withdrawn. It was privately purchased, on behalf of the Corporation, for 300 guineas. The work, which measures 172.7 x 228.6 cm, was due to be sold at the Renfield Street gallery of Walter J. Buchanan, one of Glasgow’s leading firms of auctioneers.
An advertisement for the sale, on page twelve of the same edition of the paper, gives the firm’s address as the Fine Art Galleries, 72 Renfield Street. It is described as a “HIGHLY IMPORTANT PUBLIC SALE OF A CHARMING COLLECTION OF PICTURES,”, and the public were informed that the “Large and important Picture, ‘SEPTEMBER: BALMORAL’,” had been withdrawn. Further details about the remaining paintings were published in a sale catalogue.