Category: Auctions
Sotheby's April Sale
March 28 2024
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Sotheby's London April Mid-Season Sale has been published online. As usual, I won't spoil any of the fun by pointing out any interesting lots.
Alongside the sale of Old Master and 19th Century works is the second part of Frames from the Richard Green Gallery (all sold without reserve).
A Park Avenue Collection at Christie's New York
March 27 2024
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Christie's New York have recently published a single owner sale, called A Park Avenue Collection, which happens to contain some rather choice Old Masters that are worth looking up. The auction will take place on 17th April 2024.
Highlights include a St Petersburg era portrait of Vigée Le Brun's daughter (pictured), a Rubens oil sketch, a beautifully preserved Greuze and a dancing dog painting by Fragonard.
Amongst the lower value lots is this incredible evocative pigment-faded Simon Verelst still life, a painting which has a beautiful modern sensibility about it, I think:
Sleeper Alert!
March 26 2024
Picture: neumeister.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A reader has very kindly alerted me to the following painting catalogued as 'England (?) 1st half of the 19th century' which realised €59,800 over its €1,000 - €2,000 estimate the other day at Neumeister in Munich. The frame and reverse shows that the work had formerly been given to John Constable.
Sleeper Alert!
March 25 2024
Picture: kollerauktionen.ch
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The following painting catalogued as 'Genoa, 17th century' realised 110,000 CHF over its estimate of 10,000 - 15,000 CHF last week at Koller in Switzerland. Van Dyck was the name being whispered throughout social media. Let's see if it turns up anywhere interesting in due course!
Chicago Club to Sell Monet
March 25 2024
Video: CSB Chicago
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Chicago that the city's Union League Club, a private members club, is selling a $10m Monet to help pay for a rennovation project. The painting was gifted to the club by a member back in 1895, when it was valued at $500.
Graham Sutherland's Study of Winston Churchill Coming Up for Sale
March 22 2024
Picture: artscouncil.org.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Arts Council's website has alerted me to news that Graham Sutherland's Study of Sir Winston Churchill, a work of art which is under the exemption scheme, has a notice of sale on it. The painting, which appears to have always been in a private collection since it was completed in 1954, will be offered for sale at Sotheby's in June carrying a guide price of £800,000.
Hans Jakob Oeri Drawing Soars
March 22 2024
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from the recent Christie's Drawings sale in Paris that the following double portrait soared past its estimate two days ago. Hans Jakob Oeri's Double Portrait of Ludwig Schulthess-Kaufmann et Emil Schulthess-Schulthess realised an impressive €226,800 over its €15,000 - €25,000 estimate.
According to the catalogue note:
Born in Zurich, the brothers depicted here are depicted in their daily lives, engaged in two activities that are central to the family’s interests. The flowers in the foreground will be dried between the pages of a book held by one of the brothers, probably Emil. The reference to botany refers to the father, Leonhard Schulthess-Nüscheler (1775-1841), an amateur biologist and painter of flowers. The art is evoked by the instruments brought by Ludwig, which indicate the next stage of their work, when the plants are drawn after drying. The twins’ love of drawing carried them into adulthood, and they became amateur artists, focusing on the depiction of historical monuments.
Sell off the Period Rooms, says the Brooklyn Museum
March 19 2024
Picture: artnet.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
ArtNet.com have shared news that the Brooklyn Museum will be selling off the contents of four period rooms, alongside 200 furnishings. The initiative is due to attempts to regain gallery space for permanent displays of 'Indigenous Arts, Contemporary, Arts of the Americas and more'. Regular readers might remember that the museum sold off a selection of paintings including Old Masters in 2020.
According to the article linked above:
“We know [the period rooms] are much beloved,” said museum director Anne Pasternak in an email. “We have been studying them intensively over the past few years, with input from outside experts as well as our curators, and the truth is that some of them are of lesser quality, duplicate comparable works in the collection, and/or require extensive conservation to be on display.” [...]
“Deaccessioning allows curators to refine and focus the collection, ensuring that we continue to display work that resonates and tells meaningful stories for our visitors,” said Pasternak. “Thus, we are very invested in making room for many of our great collections that have never had permanent gallery space in the Museum, such as Indigenous Arts, Contemporary, Arts of the Americas, and more. While it is always difficult to part with any work in our collection, the curators have been very careful to select objects that, while very good examples of their kind, will not diminish our collections by their absence.”
The auctioning off of the rooms and their contents will take place this month at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, North Carolina.
I should also mention that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York sold a selection of 174 lots of Chinese ceramics and jades yesterday at Bonhams. Click here to see the results.
Rediscovered Klimt on display at Daniel Katz Gallery
March 14 2024
Picture: @danielkatzgallery
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Daniel Katz Gallery in London have shared news on Instagram that they are hosting Klimt's rediscovered Portrait of Fräulein Lieser. The work is due to come up for sale at Kinsky in Vienna on 24th April 2024 carrying an estimate of €30 - €50m. It isn't clear whether members of the public can go and see it, or how long it will be on display for, but why not try your luck if you can't make it to Vienna next month! It's rather beautiful and slightly eerie how much Robin Katz (pictured) appears to have been teleported from fin de siècle Vienna for this photo...
A.W. Devis Indian Scene Soars!
March 12 2024
Picture: Gorringe's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The following scene of Indian Weavers by Arthur William Devis realised an impressive £130,000 (hammer price) over its £5,000 - £8,000 estimate at Gorringe's today. An incredible example of the interest in such paintings these days, I suppose!
Modern Sales in London
February 27 2024
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The sales of Modern to Contemporary Art are opening in London this week. Christie's sales (branded 20th / 21st Century) open today, and Sotheby's The London Sales open tomorrow for viewing.
As ever, there are some very beautiful and valuable pictures coming up on the block. Christie's sales are led by an 'Estimate upon request' Hockney and a £30m - £50m Magritte. My personal favourite is this hauntingly quiet Monet (pictured), estimated at a mere £12m - £18m. Sotheby's sales are headlined by a £5m - £7m Signac, a £8m - £12m Picasso, and a £5m - £7m Joan Miro. More news in due course!
Rare Hercules Segers at Koller
February 26 2024
Picture: Koller
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Several accounts on 'X' (formerly Twitter) have pointed out this rare landscape by Hercules Seghers that it coming up at Koller in Switzerland. The painting, which was rediscovered and first published in the major Rijksmuseum exhibition in 2016-17, will be offered on 22nd March 2024 carrying an estimate of 350,000 - 500,000 CHF.
Sleeper Alert!
February 14 2024
Picture: Vanderkindere
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
'X' (formerly Twitter) was awash with news about the following painting which was auctioned off at Vanderkindere in Belgium yesterday. The work catalogued as 'Flemish School, 16th century' achieved €202,000 over its €10,000 - €15,000 estimate.
Self Portrait by Marie Gabrielle Capet Coming up in Nice
February 9 2024
Picture: La Gazette Drouot
Posted by Adam Busiakeiwicz:
La Gazette Drouot have published an extended article on a very interesting Self Portrait by Marie-Gabrielle Capet (1761-1818) which is coming up for sale in Nice next week. Capet, who was a pupil of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, came from a modest background and eventually exhibited widely in pre and post revolutionary France. The painting, which is a recent rediscovery, relates to a much larger variant now in the Neue Pinakothek, Munich. It will be offered on 15th February 2024 carrying and estimate of €15,000 - €20,000.
Update - The painting realised €310,000!
Musée d'Orsay acquires The Hope Cup
February 5 2024
Video: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Musée d'Orsay in Paris has announced its acquisition of The Hope Cup at Sotheby's New York last week. This marvellous nineteenth century fantasy by Jean-Valentin Morel achieved $2,117,000 at auction.
Early Van Gogh Watercolour coming up at Christie's
February 5 2024
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Art Newspaper has shared breaking news that Christie's London will be offering one of Vincent Van Gogh's earliest watercolours in March. The work, which will carry an estimate of £2m - £3m, dates to 1881 when Van Gogh was setting out to become a serious artist. Read the article to get the full story, including the work's history and provenance.
Sotheby's Overhauls Fees
February 5 2024
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Sotheby's announced a major overhaul of their fees structure last week. In an effort to standardise and simplify buyers premiums the new rate will be 20 percent of the hammer price for works up to $6 million. Works sold above $6 million will then be charged at 10%. This represents a lowering of buyers premium, aimed to 'provide buyers with increased spending power.'
Equally, sellers too will face changes. The auction house have introduced a uniform seller's commission of 10% on the first $500,000 hammer price per lot. Lots above $500,000 will not be charges sellers commission (see link for precise details).
According to the company's CEO Charles Stewart:
Since 1979, when Sotheby’s first introduced buyer’s premium in our salerooms, the market has largely shifted the transaction burden onto buyers. The result has been high costs for buyers and tiered commission structures that require a calculator to even understand, as well as an entirely opaque fee structure for sellers which distracts from what is most important to them. We are confident our simplified and clarified terms will benefit both buyers and sellers going forward.
The new structure will affect consigners from 15th April 2024 onwards, and buyers from 20th May 2024 onwards.
Sleeper Alert!
February 2 2024
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The following portrait, catalogued as 'Circle of Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun', realised an extraordinary $393,700 over its $20k - $30k estimate in the Sotheby's New York Part II sale yesterday afternoon. What makes this price even more unusual is that the painting sold for more than several autograph works by the artist in the aforementioned Joseph Baillio sale the day before last. Is this price an example of the Vigée Le Brun effect?* Or, did bidders see something beyond the 'Circle of' attribution?
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* - In this case, perhaps it is time to start scooping up the many many copies that exist of the Uffizi Self Portrait and start sending them to auction. Regular readers might remember the same fascination for Mona Lisa copies a few years ago.
Van Dyck Drawing achieves $2.1m
February 2 2024
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Van Dyck's Portrait of Willem Hondius achieved an impressive $1.7m hammer ($2,107,000 inc. fees) at Christie's New York yesterday afternoon. A quick search through Artnet seems to suggest that this may be a record for a work on paper by the artist.* Quite something for a work that had purportedly dropped off the radar of scholars for many decades!
* - I'm sure readers will get in touch in case I am wrong about this.
Sotheby's Results
February 1 2024
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Sotheby's New York Part I Old Master Paintings sale realised $21,022,110 today with 30 out of 53 lots being sold (sell-through rate of 61.2% / or 56.6% inc. withdrawn lots).*
As per yesterday, the auction got off to a rather good start with an early panel by the Master of the Agilolphus Altar realising $1,143,000 (all results inc. fees) over and estimate of $300k - $500k and a Swabian School religious panel making $406,500 over its estimate of $150k - $250k. Later on, a Portrait of the Earl of Buckinghamshire by Gainsborough realised $304,800 over its $100k - $150k estimate, a beautifully preserved Scipio Pulzone portrait realised $406,400 over its $200k - $300k estimate and a handsome Batoni portrait realised $381,000 over $150 - $250k. The top Old Master of the sale (excluding a $3.4m 19th century view of The Western Wall, which was a bit of an outlier) was Van Dyck's Self Portrait sold to a single bidder at $2m hammer (making $2,430,000 inc. fees).
Amongst the top lots that failed to sell was the rediscovered Self Portrait by Rubens, alongside a Murillo, Orazio Gentileschi, Coypel and a withdrawn Baschenis.
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Overall, the results were rather mixed for the 2024 New York season. The relatively large amounts of unsold lots for both auction houses is suggestive that a realignment for values and estimates is probably due on works from certain categories. As ever, paintings that are fresh to the market and in tip-top condition still tend to do best. It seems clear that with the continued rather squeezed supply of fresh and desirable pictures, the competition between the auction houses will be fiercer than ever in order to secure top consignments which can make all the difference (inc. the awaited sale of the $35m Velazquez).
There are still many signs to be hopeful, though! I haven't mentioned the successful A Scholar Collects: The Joseph Baillio Collection sale yesterday, which realised some very impressive prices for works by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun. In particular, her Self Portrait made a staggering $3,085,000 over its estimate of $700k - $1m. The Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco has already announced its acquisition of Vigée Le Brun's very intimate The Little Eugène de Montesquiou-Fézensac Asleep which made $215,900 over its $40k - $60k estimate. It seems that works by women artists continue to soar ever higher, a feature of both the Sotheby's and Christie's sales.
* - 4 lots were withdrawn from the sale.
