Masters and Surprises: In London, Old Masters Set To Be Sold” [Jay Akasie, New York Sun]
“Old Masters Reemerge for London Summer Sales” [Amy Page, ARTINFO]
“Turner, Hals Works Sold in 51.5 Million-Pound Sotheby’s Auction” [Scott Reyburn, Bloomberg]
“Sotheby’s old masters sales fetches over $100 million [Reuters]
“Old Master Paintings Soar at Sotheby’s Realizing $101.5 Million [Art Daily]
Sotheby’s official results: Sale L08034/Old Master Paintings Day Sale
Sotheby’s official results: Sale L0803/Old Master Paintings Evening Sale
Press coverage of Sotheby’s OM sales throughout the week centered on the triumph of its evening auction on July 9th. The sale brought in £51,488,650 GBP/$101,530,469 USD, well over Sotheby’s presale estimate of £30.2-44.2 million.
Alexander Bell, Head of Sotheby’s Old Masters worldwide, attributed the strength of the sales to the quality of lots offered and to the demands of a broadened market. Bell remarked upon “the extraordinary breadth of the buyer base..attracting a more diverse and international spectrum of buyers than ever before.”
Successful sales were abundant, with expected results and unexpected surprises. There was little surprise over the price of the Hals portrait, (lot 26), which surpassed its £3–5 million estimate and sold for £7,097,250, the second highest price achieved by the artist. This work had all the makings for a big sale, it had been recently cleaned and reattributed, and was fresh to market-last appearing at auction in 1963.
Fantastic surprises came by way of Lucas Cranach the Elder ’s David and Bathsheba (lot 62), which sold for £2,113,250-more than ten times its pre-sale high estimate of £200,000; and Tintoretto’s “Portrait of an Elderly Bearded Man” (lot 71), which fetched a record price for the artist. The hammer for this work fell at £1,609,250, over five times its original estimate of £200–300,000. A winter landscape by Aert van der Neer, (lot 40) considered one of his top works, achieved another record price for an artist, selling for £2.73 million.
J.M.W Turner’s Pope’s Villa at Twickenham (lot 91) proved to be a moderate success, selling for £5,417,250 with Sotheby’s buyer’s premium, slightly below its low estimate of £5 million. Sotheby’s experts commented that the work may have been more desired had its cast of yellow finish been darker, which would have made the colors in the painting more opulent.
The sale’s connection with Contemporary collectors was seen particularly with the appeal of Italian gold-ground paintings, long favored for their garish design that meshes well with modern interiors. A piece by 13th century Italian painter, Taddeo di Bartolo (lot 66) , quadrupuled its estimate and sold for a record £1.9 million pounds.
Interest in the sale was also increased by the factor of provenance. A collector’s name can be an important factor in boosting an object’s value. In this sale, consigned items from the estate of the beloved collector Dr. Gustave Rau gave the sale additional prestige. Jay Akasie elaborates upon this point in the NY Sun article, linked in this post’s heading.
Despite such success, dealer trepidation was felt before the sale, perhaps in the wake of the uneven results of Christie’s auction the previous night. Dealer Robert Holden remarked that “demand is sliding away at the lower end. If an auction house goes in with high estimates for secondary stuff, it’s asking for trouble.”
Other lot results of note from OMNP’s preview, include the Steen self-portrait (lot 51), which doubled its high-estimate; and the Kalf landscape (lot 48), an atypical work for the still-life artist, which nonetheless landed comfortably on the high end of its estimate, and the tame price paid for Lucas Cranach the Elder’s Hercules and Antaeus (lot 64,) a work that would appear to be quite appealing to modern tastes. Perhaps buyers were a bit worn out after the extraordinary price paid for his David and Bathsheba, two lots earlier.
MIDDLE END ($10,000-$99,000 USD)
LOT 153
Follower of Gaspar Peeter Verbruggen the Younger
A Garland of Flower Decorating an Ornamental Carved Stone Structure
ESTIMATE: £40,000—60,000 GBP
LOT 39
Philips Wowerman
Haarlem 1619 – 1668
A Lakeside Halt with Travelers Resting
ESTIMATE: £15,000—20,000 GBP
LOT 161
Pieter Claesz.
Berchem 1597/8 – 1660/1 Haarlem
Still Life with a large Roemer, a half-filled Beer Glass, a Tazza, a Bread Roll on a Pewter Plate, along with some Olives in a Ceramic Bowl, a Lemon, some Oysters and other Objects all arranged on a partly draped Table Top
ESTIMATE: £40,000—60,000 GBP
LOT 194
Giulio Cesare Procaccini
Bologna 1574 – 1625 Milan
Study of the Head of an Old Man
ESTIMATE: £25,000—35,000 GBP
LOT 120
Florentine School, last quarter of the 14th century
The Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints Catherin of Siena, Anthony Abbot, John the Baptist, Augustine (?), Julian and a Female Martyr Saint
ESTIMATE: £40,000—60,000 GBP
LOT 229
Corrado Giaquinto
Molfetta 1703 – 1766 Naples
The Madonna and Child
ESTIMATE: £40,000—60,000 GBP
LOT 148
Jan Janssens
Ghent 1590 – Circa 1650
The Resurrection
ESTIMATE: £30,000—40,000 GBP
LOT 272
Giuseppe Zocchi
Florence 1716/17 – 1767
An Architectural Capriccio with Figures being ferried between ancient Ruins, an extensive Landscape beyond
ESTIMATE: £40,000—60,000 GBP
LOT 43
Willem Kalf
Rotterdam 1619 – 1693 Amsterdam
A Peasant Couple by a Well with a Distant View of Paris
ESTIMATE: £30,000—50,000 GBP
LOT 143
Studio of Sir Peter Paul Rubens
Siegen 1577 – 1640 Antwerp
The Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek
ESTIMATE: £20,000—30,000 GBP
FINAL PRICE: £99,650 GBP
HIGH END ($100,000 USD and up)
LOT 147
Erasmus Quellinus the Younger
Antwerp 1607 – 1678
The Return of the Prodigal Son
ESTIMATE: £60,000—80,000 GBP
FINAL PRICE: £73,250 GBP
LOT 51
Jan Havicksz. Steen
Leiden 1626 – 1679
Self Portrait with a Lute
ESTIMATE: £80,000—120,000 GBP
LOT 86
Francesco Guardi
Venice 1712-1793
Venice, A view of the Riva Degli Schiavoni Seen from the East with the Palazzo Ducale and Piazetta Beyond
ESTIMATE: £120,000—180,000 GBP
LOT 90
Gaspar Van Wittel, Called Vanvitelli
Amersfoort 1652/3 – 1736 Rome
Venice, A View of the Bacino di San Marco Looking West with the Punta Della Dogana and the Entrance to the Grand Canal
ESTIMATE: £1,000,000—1,500,000 GBP
FINAL PRICE: £1,049,250 GBP
LOT 26
Frans Hals
Antwerp 1581/5 – 1666 Haarlem
Portrait of Willem Van Heythuysen, Seated on a Chair and Holding a Hunting Crop
ESTIMATE: £3,000,000—5,000,000 GBP
LOT 35
Attributed to Hendrick Avercamp
Amsterdam 1585 – 1634 Kampen
An Extensive River Landscape with Numerous Skaters before a Church, A Village Beyond
ESTIMATE: £200,000—300,000 GBP
LOT 34
Adriaen Coorte
Middelburg (?) 1660 (?) – After 1707
A VANITAS Still Life, with a Skull, an Hourglass, and Oil Lamp, a Conch Shell, a Closed Book, a Recorder, a Musical Score, together with some scattered Ears of Corn, All upon a Stone Ledge
ESTIMATE: £200,000—300,000 GBP
LOT 33
Willem Claesz. Heda
Haarlem, Circa 1596 – 1680
A Still Life with a Silver Tazza, a Silver Pot, a Roemer with White Wine, a Glass with Beer, Four Pewter Plates with a Bread Roll and a Shoulder of Ham, All on a Green Table Cloth
ESTIMATE: £120,000—180,000 GBP
LOT 31
Pieter Claesz
Berchem 1597/8 – 1660/1 Haarlem
Still Life with a Brazier, a Glass of Beer and a Clay Pipe
ESTIMATE: £150,000—200,000 GBP
LOT 17
Pieter Breughel the Younger
Brussels 1564-1637/8 Antwerp
The Visit to the Farm
ESTIMATE: £ 150,000—200,000 GBP
LOT 13
Jan Breughel the Younger
Antwerp 1601-1678
Studies of a Pig Market
ESTIMATE: £80,000—120,000 GBP
LOT 52
Gerard Ter Borch
Zwolle 1617 – 1681 Deventer
Three Men in a Tavern, One taking Snuff
ESTIMATE: £250,000—350,000 GBP
LOT 53
Willem Van De Velde the Younger
A Calm Day with Weyschuits off a Beach, and other Vessels including a Man O’ War firing a Salute Offshore
ESTIMATE: £50,000—70,000 GBP
LOT 62
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Kronach 1472 – 1553 Weimar
David and Bathsheba
ESTIMATE: £200,000—300,000 GBP
LOT 63
Lucas Cranach the Younger
Wittenberg 1515 – 1586
The Conversion of Saint Paul
ESTIMATE: £120,000—180,000 GBP
LOT 64
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Kronach 1472 – 1553 Weimar
Hercules and Antaeus
ESTIMATE: £500,000—700,000 GBP
LOT 67
Master of the Osservanza
Active in Siena during the Second Quarter of the 15th Century
Saint Lucy, Half Length, Holding a Martyr’s Palm
ESTIMATE: £300,000—500,000 GBP
FINAL PRICE: £ 825,250 GBP
LOT 71
Jacopo Robusti, called Jacopo Tintoretto
Venice 1518 – 1594
Portrait of an Elderly Bearded Man, Head and Shoulders
ESTIMATE: £200,000—300,000 GBP
LOT 145
Roelandt Savery
Kortrijk 1576 – 1639 Utrecht
A Wooded River Landscape with Stags Chased by Huntsmen and their Dogs
ESTIMATE: £70,000—100,000 GBP
LOT 4
Jan Gossart, called Mabuse
Maubeuge (?) Circa 1478 – 1532 Antwerp (?)
Portrait of a Young Woman, bust length
ESTIMATE: £200,000—300,000 GBP
FINAL PRICE: £433,250 GBP