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A masterpiece unseen by the public for 20 years is expected to go for at least $20 million at an auction of Old Masters paintings at Christie's in Manhattan today.
The 1841 work by J. M. W. Turner, an ethereal view of Venice entitled "Giudecca, La Donna della Salute and SanaGiorgio," is being sold by the St. Francis of Assisi Foundation.
A private collector bought the painting in 1992 and donated it to the foundation, which has never displayed it to the public.
"It's very unusual that you have a picture which comes on the market these days that is a genuine bona fide masterpiece," said Nicholas Hall of Christie's.
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