Flaming June - Circumstances of Arrival in Puerto Rico

Circumstances of Arrival in Puerto Rico

In 1963, Luis A. Ferré — the noted Puerto Rican industrialist and politician, who would be elected governor five years later — was on a trip around Europe, engaged in purchasing paintings and sculptures for the Ponce Museum of Art in Puerto Rico, which he had founded. On a stop in a gallery in Amsterdam, he and René Taylor found Flaming June abandoned in a corner. They became impressed by the painting's beauty, and asked the owner about it.

The owner said no one was interested in the painting because it was considered too old-fashioned for the time. But he added that if Ferré was interested in it, that he could have it for $10,000. Even though Ferré thought it was expensive (as noted above, it had shortly before been auctioned for much less), they entered into an agreement that Ferré would wire the money for the painting. The man gave his word of not selling it to anyone else.

Antonio Luis Ferré, the industrialist's son, many years later related that his father spent a sleepless night, worried that the gallery owner wouldn't keep his promise. Ferré called him in the morning, assuring him that the money would be wired and asking him to keep his promise - which he did, even though other people had already gone to the gallery and liked the painting.

Thus, Flaming June travelled to the Ponce Museum of Art and was prominently displayed. In later years, it was loaned to important expositions around the world, with the renewal of interest in Victorian art. Flaming June was on display at the Prado, Madrid in 2008 and the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Germany in 2009.