Randolph Collection Sells Painting to London’s National Gallery

The National Gallery in London has paid $25.5 million to Randolph College to purchase George Bellows 1912 painting, “Men of the Docks”. The painting is one of four paintings in the Randolph Collection that the college decided to sell in 2007. A decision that was met with opposition; with court proceedings and a ruling in 2008 that prevented a sale attempt of another painting to Christie’s in New York— the injunction was later lifted and the sale of that painting went through. As for “Men of the Docks”– Bellows exhibited the painting in Lynchburg in 1920, when the school was still Randolph-Macon Woman’s College; the painting was purchased directly from the artist at that time. According to school Administrators, the sale of the painting stands to benefit the college’s endowment, which in turn helps fund scholarships and academics.