Diego de Velázquez: “Santa Rufina”
The work at Sotheby’s auction
Velázquez’s Santa Rufina sold for $17 million at Sotheby’s A work by Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez – Saint Rufina – sold for £8,420,000 at Sptheby’s London]]>
THURSDAY, JULY 4, 2007, source: Sotheby’s
A work by Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez – Saint Rufina – sold for £8,420,000 at Sptheby’s London
This evening at Sotheby’s in London, a rare, alluring work by Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez – Saint Rufina – sold for £8,420,000 ($17,003,348 / €12,472,564), setting a new world auction record for the artist, and also becoming the most expensive Old Master Painting by a Spanish artist ever sold at auction. The painting was bought by the Focus Abengoa Foundation from Seville, the painter’s birthplace.
Alex Bell, head of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings department in London, said: “The great story this evening was the sale of the Velázquez. I am thrilled that this beautiful portrait of the Seville’s patron saint has found a permanent home in the artist’s birthplace.”
Saint Rufina was the highlight of Sotheby’s evening sale of Old Master Paintings which realised a total of £36,349,600 ($73,404,383/€53,844,742) – the third highest total for such a sale at Sotheby’s in London. The auction began with the sale of Turner watercolours from the collection of Guy and Myriam Ullens, which together made a remarkable combined total of £10,767,200. This dynamic start set the tone for the remainder of the sale.
Estimated at £6-8 million, Velázquez’s Saint Rufina was one of only a handful of works by the artist ever to have come to auction. A work of particular intimacy and simplicity, Saint Rufina may even have reflected the likeness of one of the artist’s own daughters, Francisca or Ignacia, who were aged around twelve and fourteen years old when the painting was executed in the early 1630s.
The painting was purchased by the Focus-Abengoa Foundation from Seville, the painter’s birthplace. Following the sale, Anabel Morillo León, the Managing Director of the foundation said “We are absolutely delighted to have had the opportunity to bring the painting back to Seville, and to its people, who have shown such interest in this image of the city’s patron saint. The success of this joint effort between the Town Hall and the Focus Abengoa Foundation is a model of cooperation that will benefit the city of Seville.”
“The Town Hall and the Focus-Abengoa Foundation have reached an understanding to work together to promote Velázquez’s oeuvre for 75 years. This agreement will encompass the creation of a centre to house the work by the artist, including Santa Rufina and La imposición de la Casulla a San Ildefonso, as well as a library and documentation centre on the life of this painter who is so important to the people of Seville.”
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