Poussin fails to sell, Roman bust goes for $24 million in December’s thrilling auctions

Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665)
Ordination
Estimated: £15 million to £20 million
Unsold

Sotheby’s salesroom:
Marble Portrait Bust of the Deified Antinous
Roman Imperial
Reign of Hadrian, Circa A.D. 130-138
Estimated: $2-3 million
Sold for $23,826,500

Poussin fails to sell, Roman bust goes for $24 million in December’s thrilling auctions Unexpected auction results in December 2010: ‘Ordination’, a masterpiece by Nicolas Poussin, fails to sell at Christie’s, while a Roman Imperial Marble Bust sells for a staggering $23.8 million at Sotheby’s]]>

December 8th 2010, source: Christie’s and Sotheby’s
‘Ordination’ by Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) is one of five remaining works which once formed the renowned group of 7 Sacraments acquired by the 4th Duke of Rutland in 1785. One of the most celebrated groups of paintings in the entire history of European art it was executed in the 1630s for Cassiano dal Pozzo, a celebrated antiquary and collector in Rome. The group has since been divided; Penance perished in a fire and Baptism went to the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. Christie’s London expected the work to sell for about £15 million to £20 million, but the work did not find a buyer

However, other works did well at Christie’s auction: a top price of £4,185,250/ $6,600,139/ €4,930,225 – the highest price at auction for a work by Master of the Baroncelli Portraits (active Bruges, circa 1489) – was achieved for ‘Pentecost’. This impeccably preserved panel has long been credited by scholars as a key example of late-fifteenth century painting in Bruges, remarkable for the ambition of its design, the finesse of the execution and the extraordinarily lifelike portrayal of the protagonists. Until today, it was surprisingly little known, having not been exhibited in public since 1902, and never before having been reproduced in colour.

At Sotheby’s New York, A Marble Portrait Bust of the Deified Antinous, RomanImperial, Reign of Hadrian, Circa A.D. 130-138 sold for $23,826,500, many multiples of the highestimate (est. $2/3million). The bust led the auction of Antiquities from the Collection of the Late ClarenceDay, known as one of the finest private collections of Antiquities in the United States. The ‘white glove’ saleachieved a total of $36,769,250, far exceeding the high estimate (overall est. $5.7/8.6 million). Proceedsfrom the sale will benefit the charitable foundation established by Mr. Day.

The Marble Portrait Bust of the Deified Antinous is the only known Classical representation of Antinous,outside of his coin portraits, to be identified by an inscription. Auctioneer Hugh Hildesley opened the biddingat $900,000 and two clients in the room and one on the phone began to battle. The winning bidder, aEuropean collector, entered the fray at $6.5 million and prevailed against the three existing bidders as well asanother client who only joined the competition at $11.2 million. In all, it took more than eleven minutes for thelot to sell and when the hammer finally fell the room broke out in applause