As he hammered down a stunning painting of Gloucester Harbor by William Morris Hunt for a record $392,000 at Grogan & Company’s auction this past Sunday, March 12, auctioneer Michael B. Grogan observed, “It’s not every day we get to have a painting that is better than one at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.”

Grogan referred to a similar view of Gloucester by Hunt that is among the sizable collection of Hunt’s work at the museum. Both pictures were painted in the summer of 1877.

The painting sold to Jeffrey R. Brown of Brown-Corbin Fine Art in Milton, Mass., underbid by Newport, RI., dealer William Varieka. The painting had it all: it was exquisitely painted, a fine subject and clear provenance.

A complete report of the sale will appear in a future issue.