For context, this is still less than the highest grossing single-owner sale, achieved by Bonhams in 2013 when it sold Australian television pioneer Reg Grundy’s art collection for $19.2 million.

Deutscher and Hackett’s big draw card was, of course, Souvenir de Belle-Île, Russell’s portrait of his wife Marianna on the island in Brittany, France, where the couple lived for many years.

Belle-Île indeed: Record smashed in biggest sale in a decade comes via ChinaTechNews.com.