OMNP takes an inside look on some of the highlights from Tuesday’s Old Master Drawings sale at Christie’s. Click MORE at the bottom for a full breakdown for select items in three different price ranges.
OMNP provides a breakdown on some lots of interest from Tuesday’s sale. Items have been divided into three different price categories (High, Middle, and Low) Lot summaries and OMNP analysis provided below.
HIGH END ($100,000 and up)
LOT 45
Gaetano Gandolfi (San Matteo della Decima 1734-1802 Bologna)
Ulysses before Circe, Mercury behind
with inscription ‘Originale di Gaetano Gandolfi Maestro dell Academia Clementina di Bologna’ on a label attached to the verso
red and white chalk, watermark encircled PM
19½ x 14 in. (497 x 357 mm.)
ESTIMATE: ( £100,000 – £150,000)
($198,300 – $297,450)
This is a prime example of the sort of OM collecting opportunities that are available today: great works by more minor artists. This is an exquisite study for a picture of the same subject that was done by Gandolfi in 1766, now in the collection of the Museo Civico, Piacenza. Gandolfi came from a family of painters in Bologna, that rose to prominence during the late Baroque period in Italy. Their work emulated earlier Baroque masters, such as the Carracci family (also from Bologna) and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. These strong influences may have diminished the prominence of Gandolfi in art history, nevertheless this is a gorgeous piece. Strong craftsmanship is evident in the attention paid to the lighting and musculature surrounding the figures. Circe’s forlorn expression shows how the tables have turned. Ulysses, who had been given an antidote potion by Mercury to immunize himself from the spell of the enchantress is unaffected by her temptation.
The next three lots are by OMNP favorite Francisco Goya. These are a collection of rare watercolors from Goya’s “Private Albums,” a celebrated series of drawings that the artist began during the latter stages of his life and shared only with his close circles of family and friends. These works are marked by Goya’s signature unique morbidity, and acerbic take on the frailty of the human condition (some of the drawings from the album series provided inspiration for his famed Caprichios series.) That said, the estimates for these works seem a bit high, especially when you consider the unattractive subject matter.
LOT 67: Constable Lampinos stitched into a dead horse
8 1/8 x 5 5/8 in. (205 x 142 mm.)
ESTIMATE: £600,000 – £800,000
($1,189,801 – $1,586,401)
LOT 65: Bajan riñendo (They go down quarrelling) or Vision de bajar riñendo (Vision: going down quarrelling
9¼ x 5 5/8 in. (234 x 143 mm.)
ESTIMATE: £800,000 – £1,200,000
($1,586,401 – $2,379,602)
LOT 66: Repentance
8¼ x 6 in. (210 x 152 mm.)
ESTIMATE: £700,000 – £900,000
($1,388,101 – $1,784,702)
MIDDLE END ($10,000-99,000)
Again in the middle end, OMNP finds great works are available by lesser known artists, or even more established ones. Lots 20 and 21 are the latter- two in a series of character studies by Guercino that are being offered in this sale. Guercino was one of the leading Italian Baroque artists from Bologna, who was particularly known for his drawings.
LOT 51
Donato Creti (Cremona 1671-1749 Bologna)
A youth, bust-length, wearing a ruff
with inscriptions ‘Creti originale’ and ‘Palaferniere 60′ (verso)
black and white chalk, watermarks encircled scales and circle (twice)
14¾ x 9 in. (374 x 228 mm.)
ESTIMATE: £8,000 – £12,000
($15,864 – $23,796)
This drawing study by Donato Creti is typical of his portrait style, but there is something special going on here..This pieces captures the intriguing expression of a youth. The young man’s look is equal parts confident, charming, and flippant. Great art is defined by such ambiguity.
LOT 36
Baldassare Franceschini, il Volterrano (Volterra 1611-1690 Florence)
A male nude sleeping, seated and in profile to the right
red chalk
14 3/8 x 9 7/8 in. (365 x 251 mm.)
ESTIMATE: £20,000 – £30,000
($39,660 – $59,490)
LOT 83
Cornelis de Vos (Hulst 1585-1651 Antwerp)
Head of a bearded man in profile to the right, with a subsidiary study of another head
with inscription ‘Van Dyck 1599-1641′ (verso)
black, red and white chalk, on buff paper
9 x 7 3/8 in. (228 x 197 mm.)
ESTIMATE: £7,000 – £10,000
($13,881 – $19,830)
LOT 133
Attributed to François-Pascal-Simon Gérard, called Baron Gérard (Rome 1770-1837 Paris)
The death of Malvina
black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown and grey wash, heightened with white
15 7/8 x 18¼ in. (403 x 463 mm.
ESTIMATE: £15,000 – £20,000
($29,745 – $39,660)
LOT 21
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Il Guercino (Cento 1591-1666 Bologna)
A bearded man, half-length, wearing a hat, and a young woman
pen and brown ink, brown wash
5 3/8 x 7½ in. (136 x 191 mm.)
ESTIMATE: £12,000 – £18,000
($23,796 – $35,694)
LOT 20
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Il Guercino (Cento 1591-1666 Bologna)
Saint Francesca Romana at prayer, an angel holding a book at her side
pen and brown ink, brown wash
9¾ x 7¾ in. (248 x 196 mm.)
ESTIMATE: £12,000 – £18,000
($23,796 – $35,694)
LOW END ($10,000 and below)
When you consider how often attributions are overturned in the Old Masters world, pieces that are ascribed as “Circle of”, or “Follower of” an established artist can often be diamonds in the rough, waiting to be discovered and reattributed. Dealers are usually to quick to pounce on such steals, however it may be worth it to a collector to take a chance on some of the lots listed below. Authenticity issues notwithstanding, the Bosch study (lot 72) and the Pannini drawing (lot 52) are both beautiful works in their own right, and the charcoal work by Corot (lot 136) is authentic.
LOT 72
Follower of Hieronymus Bosch
Studies of grotesque figures (recto); Three dancing figures (verso)
with inscription ‘bosch’ (recto and verso)
pen and brown ink (recto), pen and brown and black ink, heightened with white (partially oxidized) (verso), fragmentary watermark Gothic P
4 7/8 x 8 in. (124 x 203 mm.)
LOT 68
Circle of Hans Holbein the Younger (Augsburg 1497/8-1543 London)
The Massacre of the Innocents: Design for stained glass
with inscriptions ‘H.B.1521.’ on the right of the platform and ‘Hans Holbein fecit’
black chalk, brush and grey and black ink, grey and blue wash, on five joined sheets, arched, the upper right corner made up
17¼ x 24½ in. (439 x 622 mm.)
ESTIMATE: £5,000 – £7,000
($9,915 – $13,881)
LOT 52
Circle of Giovanni Paolo Panini (Piacenza 1691-1765 Rome)
Figures admiring Roman ruins
with inscription ‘Panini.’
black chalk, pen and brown and grey ink, watercolour, heightened with bodycolour, watermark Strasburg lily
17½ x 12 3/8 in. (443 x 333 mm.)
ESTIMATE: £3,000 – £5,000
($5,949 – $9,915)
LOT 92
Circle of Nicolas Poussin (Les Andelys 1594-1665 Rome)
Hercules bringing the pelt of the Nemean Lion to Eurystheus
black chalk, pen and brown ink, grey wash, heightened with white, on buff paper, pen and brown ink framing lines
8 x 17 in. (202 x 430 mm.
ESTIMATE: £2,000 – £4,000
($3,966 – $7,932
LOT 136
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (Paris 1796-1875)
The destruction of Sodom
signed ‘COROT’
charcoal on light brown paper
10¼ x 17 in. (261 x 432 mm.)
ESTIMATE: £6,000 – £8,000
£6,000 – £8,000