One of the greatest scholars on the work of pre-Raphaelite Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Virginia Surtees, is to sell her private collection at Christie's Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite and British Impressionist Art auction on June 17 in London.
 Rossetti had a close relationship with the Morris family, later having an affair with Jane Morris despite being good friends with William |
The collection is one of the finest ever brought to auction, and will be led by a triple portrait of the daughter of William and Jane Morris, May Morris, entitled Rosa Triplex or The Triple Rose.
Surtees, the author of Rossetti's definitive catalogue raisonne, bought the work for just £285 in 1951. It's now valued at £700,000-1m ($1.1m-1.6m).
"Virginia Surtees is one of the most important experts associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement," commented Christie's Harriet Drummond.
"At the age of 97, she felt this was the time to let others share the pleasure that she has had over the years as the custodian of these wonderful works of art."
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