€600, €13,500 and finally €130,000
November 10 2021
Picture: artcurial
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
@AuctionRadar on Twitter has posted a rather interesting observation regarding a previous 'Sleeper' he has been following over the past year. The following portrait, then unidentified and described as 'Dutch School 18th Century', realised €13,500 over its €600 estimate in a regional auction house earlier in March. The same painting, now given to Jan de Bray (1626-1698) in full, realised a total of €169,000 (inc. commission) at Artcurial in Paris yesterday. A good example what a difference the right attribution can make!
Equally, the aforementioned Mona Lisa copy made a respectful €210,000 (hammer price) over its €150k - €200k estimate in the very same sale. Have we finally seen the end of bonkers prices for these Leonardo copies?!
Update - I've been informed that the painting had in fact been sold as a Jan de Bray as recently as 1922. Here's a Twitter thread which explains more.
