Francesco Guardi
Venice, the Bacino di San Marco with the Piazzetta and the Doge’s Palace
Sold for £9,882,500/ $16,918,840/ €12,422,303
Christie’s, July 2014
George Stubbs (1724-1806)
Tygers at Play
Sold for £7,7 million
Sotheby’s, July 2014
Old master & British painting at Christie’s & Sotheby’s London auctions of Old Master & British Paintings on July 2014 commanded strong prices. Christie’s sale realised £45 million, led by a Venetian view by Francesco Guardi. Sotheby’s achieved £68.3 million, highlighted by George Stubbs’ ‘Tygers at Play’.]]>
July 10th, 2014, source: Christie’s / Sotheby’s
Christie’s sale. July 8th, 2014
Christie’s evening auction of Old Master & British Paintings realised £44,986,000/ $77,016,032/ €56,547,402. The sale attracted 145 registered bidders from 27 countries across 5 continents. The top price was paid for “Venice, the Bacino di San Marco with the Piazzetta and the Doge’s Palace” by Francesco Guardi From The Baron Henri de Rothschild Collection, a masterpiece dating from the artist’s full maturity which realised £9,882,500/ $16,918,840/ €12,422,303, setting the second highest price for a work by the artist at auction (estimate: £8-10 million).
“Saint Praxedis” by Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675), of 1655, is the earliest dated picture by the artist and one of only two works from his rare oeuvre of 37 known paintings to have remained in private hands realised £6,242,500/ $10,687,160/ €7,846,823, setting the second highest price for a work by the artist at auction (estimate: £6-8 million). Scientific evidence has endorsed the attribution of this highly charged devotional work to the Delft master.
A monumental pronk still life by Willem Claesz. Heda (1594-1680) sold for £4,848,500/ $8,290,360/ €6,087,023, setting a new record price for the artist at auction (estimate: £1.5-2.5 million). “Portrait of Lady Frances Marsham, later Countess of Romney” (1755–1795) by Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A. (1723–1792) realised £4,786,500/ $8,194,488/ €6,016,631, also setting the second highest price for a work by the artist at auction (estimate: £3–5 million).
Sotheby’s sale. July 9th, 2014
Sotheby’s auction realised £68.3 million / $117.1 million / €85.9 million, setting a record for an Old Master and British Paintings Eveningsale at Sotheby’s London. The top lot of the evening was George Stubbs’ “Tygers at Play” , which realised £7,698,500 ($13,194,459 / €9,677,046) (est. £4 – 6m/ €4.9 – 7.3 m / $6.7 – 10m). Painted circa 1770 – 75, this masterful depiction of two leopard cubs ranks among Stubbs’ most popular subjects. The painting had rarely been seen in public, having been exhibited only four times since its original appearance at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
A new auction record was set for Giovanni da Rimini when a wing of a diptych depicting episodes from the lives of the Virgin Mary and other saints by Giovanni da Rimini sold for £ 5,682,500 ($ 9,739,237/ € 7,142,926 ) – almost double its high estimate (est. £2 – 3 m / €2.4 – 3.7m / $3.4 – 5m ) . Dating from circa 1300 – 05, a pivotal moment in European painting, this beautifully preserved panel, painted in tempera on gold ground , had been in the collection of the Duke s of Northumberland since 1856.
In addition to the work by Giovanni the Rimini, other highlights sold tonight included Jan Brueghel the Elder’s “Garden of Eden” – dated 1613 and painted on copper – which fell to Patti Wong, Chairman of Sotheby’s Asia for £6,802,500 ($11,658,805 / €8,550,771) (est. £2 – 3 m / $3.4m – 5m / €2 . 4 – 3 .7m ). The only drawing by Sandro Botticelli to have come to auction since the 19 th century, “Study for a Seated St. Joseph, his head resting on his right hand” sold for £ 1,314,500 ($ 2,252,922 / € 1,652,332 ) (est. £1 – 1.5m / €1.2 – 1.8 m / $1.7 – 2.5 m ) . This is more than 25 times the price of $88,000 (£52,710) paid by Barbara Piasecka Johnson at Sotheby’s New York in 1988.
Related content
El Greco and Canaletto lead old masters auctions in London (news, July 2013)
Follow us on:
