David Hockney's Portrait of Sir David Webster, formerly owned by the Royal Opera House where Webster was CEO from 1945 to 1970, has been bought at auction for £12.8m by David Ross, current Chair of the Royal Opera House, to prevent it being sent abroad.

The sale of the portrait was part of a fundraising drive by the Opera House and the billionaire Co-Founder of Carphone Warehouse has loaned the painting back to the organisation until it goes the National Portrait Gallery – where he is also a trustee – for its grand reopening exhibition in 2023.