Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez
Portrait of a gentleman
Sold for £2,953,250 at Bonhams
Old masters auctions review – December 2011 Pieter Brueghel II breaks records at Christie’s, and a pair of paintings by Johann Zoffany shine at Sotheby’s. Velázquez’s ‘Portrait of a gentleman’ sells for £3 million at Bonhams.]]>
December 8 2011, source: Christie’s / Sotheby’s / Bonhams
Records at Christie’s
The Battle between Carnival and Lent by Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564/5-1637/8) sold for £6,873,250 / $10,722,270 / €8,021,083, setting a world record price for the artist at auction. Another record was set by “Dutch men-o’-war and other shipping in a calm” by Willem van de Velde II (1633-1707) realised £5,921,250 / $9,237,150 / €6,910,099. On the negative side, a portrait of Don Juan López de Robredo by Francisco de Goya failed to sell.
Elegance at Sotheby’s
A pair of works by neoclassical painterJohann Zoffany, titled “The Garden at Hampton House, with Mr and Mrs David Garrick taking tea” and “The Shakespeare Temple at Hampton House, with Mr and Mrs David Garrick”, sold for £4,857,250 ($7,588,967) (€5,670,857). Jan Havicksz Steen’s “An Elegant Company in an Interior with Figures Playing Cards at a Table” sold for £4,857,250 ($7,588,967) (€5,670,857), a new record price for the artist at auction.
Velázquez at Bonhams
A previously unknown “Portrait of a gentleman” by Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez (1599-1660) sold for £2,953,250 on Wednesday, 7th December 2011 in the Old Master Paintings auction at Bonhams. Andrew McKenzie, Director of Old Master Paintings at Bonhams, commented that the discovery of this “extraordinarily beautiful portrait” by Velázquez was “a once in a lifetime experience“. Works by Velázquez rarely appears on the art market. In 2007, a “Saint Rufina” was acquired at Sotheby’s by the Abengoa Foundation in Seville for £8.42 million.
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