Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s ‘Massacre of the Innocents’ sold for £4.6 million, above estimates of £2.5-3.5 million, via Sotheby’s
Old Masters Week at the auction houses in London finished solidly within estimates and outpacing the summer Impressionist and Contemporary auctions as buyers shift their focus toward the more stable market of old masters. Christie’s Old Masters and 19th Century Art Evening Sale on Tuesday realized £20.5 million, above the low estimate of £15.5 million. 48 lots out of 63 sold, with a sold-by-lot rate of 76% and a sold-by-value rate of 91%. Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Evening Sale yesterday realized £26.1 million, within estimates of £24-34.7 million, and the proceeding Renaissance & Baroque Masterworks from the Collection of Barbara Piasecka Johnson realized £9.9 million, considerably above estimates of £5.2-7.7 million, bringing the night’s total to £36 million. The Johnson sale achieved a sold-by-lot rate of 79% and a sold-by-value rate of 95%. The sale of works from individual collections achieved a sold-by-lot rate of 69% and a sold-by-value rate of 82%.
Old Masters & 19th Century Art Evening Sale [Christie’s]
Old Master Paintings Evening Sale [Sotheby’s]
Christie’s Auction of Old Masters and 19th Century Art Realises $32.8 Million [Artdaily]
Christie’s Auction Sells $32.7 Million of Art as Market Shrinks [Bloomberg]
Christie’s Sees Success With First Combined Sale [Artinfo]
Lot by Lot: Highlights of Christie’s London Old Masters Evening Sale [Art Market Monitor]
Sotheby’s Evening Sales of Old Master Paintings Totals $60 Million [Artdaily]
Lot by Lot: Highlights of Sotheby’s Old Master Sale [Art Market Monitor]
Johnson & Johnson Heiress Raises $15.9 Million at Art Auction [Bloomberg]
Old Masters retain their value [Wealth Bulletin]
Old Master price soars at auction [BBC]
Old Master sells for more than a million above estimate [Telegraph]
Old Masters art sale defies the downturn [Evening Standard]
Christie’s Rakes In $32.7 Million, New Category Said To Be Successful [Luxist]
Old masters out-perform impressionist and contemporary art in summer sales [The Art Newspaper]
Whither the Old Master Market? [Art Market Monitor]
Jusepe de Ribera’s ‘Prometheus,’ from the collection of Barbara Piasecka Johnson, sold for £3.9 million, well above estimates of £800,000-1.2 million, and setting a new record at auction for the artist, via Sotheby’s
The highest selling lot in the sales was a painting of ‘Massacre of the Innocents’ by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, offered by Sotheby’s, which went for £4.6 million, exceeding its high estimate of £3.5 million. One of the biggest surprises of the evening was Jusepe de Ribera’s ‘Prometheus,’ the cover lot of the Johnson sale, which sold for £3.9 million, more than triple its high estimate of £1.2 million, and setting a new record at auction for the artist.
Michele Giovanni Marieschi’s ‘The Courtyard of the Doge’s Palace, Venice, with the Giant’s Staircase, Saint Mark’s Basilica beyond’ earned £2.1 million, near the low estimate of £2 million, via Christie’s
Christie’s highest selling work was Fra Bartolommeo’s ‘Madonna and Child’ going for £2.2 million, at the low end of estimates of £2-3 million but a record at auction for the artist. Its cover lot painting, ‘The Courtyard of the Doge’s Palace,’ by Michele Giovanni Marieschi, sold for £2.1 million, including buyer’s premium, against estimates of £2-3 million.
Fra Bartolommeo’s ‘Madonna and Child’ sold for £2.2 million, at the low end of estimates of £2-3 million and a record at auction for the artist, via Christie’s
The Old Masters market shrunk considerably less than the Impressionist and Contemporary market, down 30% from last year compared to a 70% decrease for the latter. The salesrooms were packed and bidding was lively, with the sales considered successes. Christie’s included 19th Century Art in its Old Masters sale this year to encourage crossover bidding. Though only around 10 of the 63 lots were 19th century works, Christie’s declared it a winning tactic.
Goya’s ‘Equestrian Portrait of Don Manuel Godoy Duke of Alcudia’ sold for £2.6 million, against estimates of £2.5-3.5 million, via Sotheby’s
George Stubbs’s ‘Portrait of Baron de Robeck Riding a bay hunter’ sold at its low estimate of £2 million, via Sotheby’s
