‘Stunning’ Crystal Bridges Cited by Sotheby’s Official

A Whispers staffer recently heard William Ruprecht, the president and CEO of the world-renowned auction house Sotheby’s, had visited Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and, in an email, we requested his impressions of the Bentonville showplace.

We publish his response in toto:

“When I visited Crystal Bridges in March, I was immediately struck by the care and thought that had been put into selecting the extraordinary site and the gorgeous and ambitious structure that truly honors it. The galleries which were under construction are magnificent, allowing visitors to appreciate both a sense of place and the collections of remarkable range. Alice Walton’s vision and insistence on excellence are apparent everywhere and I came away from the visit in awe of the stunning dream that is Crystal Bridges.”

In the June 27 issue of The New Yorker, writer Rebecca Mead describes a 2004 Sotheby’s auction at which Walton, a phone bidder that morning in December, won Winslow Homer’s “Spring,” Everett Shinn’s “A French Music Hall” and George Bellow’s “The Studio.” She paid more than $12 million for the three artworks and dropped another $8 million or so in afternoon bidding, according to the article.