ART

A painting of the Grand Canal in Venice by British artist Joseph Turner fetched a world record price for English watercolors at an auction Monday, Phillips auctioneers announced. The watercolor, “The Grand Canal With Santa Maria Della Salute,” was bought for $720,000 by West German industrialist Hermann Schnabel, who bid by telephone. The painting belonged to the descendants of Turner’s agent, Thomas Griffith, and had been on loan to the British Museum since 1972. The previous record for an English watercolor was $660,000 for another Turner, “Venice: A Storm Approaching San Giorgio and the Dogana,” sold in 1986.