Van Dyck Drawing at Sotheby's
January 4 2021
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The highlight of Sotheby's upcoming Old Master Drawings sale in New York is this rather fine Study of an Old Bearded Man by the young Anthony Van Dyck.
The work is a preparatory drawing for his painting of Christ Healing the Paralytic, a version of which is currently on display in the Royal Collection's Queen's Gallery. Quite hard to imagine that Van Dyck was barely twenty years old when he completed it.
The estimate of $2.5m - $3.5m seems rather punchy. With that money you could buy several of this monumental Van Dyck portrait that failed to sell in Sotheby's London December sale. One supposes that they're comparing it with the Rubens drawing that was sold from private collection of Netherland's Monarchy in 2019. That particular example, which estimated at the same price, eventually made $8.2m (inc. commission). The stylistic similarities are very evident. Will the unfinished face make any difference to its appeal?
