Category: Auctions
Resurfaced Govaert Flinck to Headline Lempertz December Sale
November 5 2025
Picture: Lempertz
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A resurfaced signed painting by Govaert Flinck, previously known only from a black & white image, will headline Lempertz's 50 Lots – My Choice | Jubiläumsauktion Henrik Hanstein on 4th December 2025. It will be offered carrying an estimate of €140,000 - 180,000. Click on the link above to read their catalogue note for the picture.
Kaplan to Sell Rembrandt Drawing for Big Cat Conservation (ctd)
November 5 2025
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The aforementioned drawing of a Lion by Rembrandt is to be sold by Sotheby's New York in February 2026. The work on paper, which is being sold from the Leiden collection to benefit the big cat charity Panthera, is expected to carry an estimate of $15 - 20m.
Sleeper Alert!
November 4 2025
Picture: Hermann Historica
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Social media is awash with news that the following Still Life catalogued as 'Style of Balthasar van der Ast' realised €225,000 (hammer) over its starting bid of €1,500 at Hermann Historica yesterday. Clara Peeters is the name that most have attached to it, with good reason too.
€3.5 - 6m Pieter Brueghel the Younger coming up at Sotheby's London
October 31 2025
Picture: @meet_the_specialists_belgium
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Sotheby's Brussels that one of the upcoming highlights of the Sotheby's London Old Master Paintings evening sale in December will be Pieter Brueghel the Younger's The Census at Bethlehem. The post linked above provides an estimate in euros of €3.5 - 6m.
According to the post:
A copy by Pieter Brueghel the Younger of a work by his father executed in 1566 (now in the collection of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium), this version of The Census at Bethlehem dates from the very beginning of the 17th century and is exceptionally large (170 x 120 cm) for a work by the artist. It has remained in a private collection
for over forty years and has never been exhibited since then. Only three versions of The Census at Bethlehem by the artist are currently in private hands, and none of them have appeared on the market since 1980, making the upcoming sale an exceptional moment for Brueghel collectors.
Sleeper Alert!
October 30 2025
Picture: Pandolfini
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The following painting of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, catalogued as 'French School 18th century', soared to €500,000 over its €20 - 30k estimate at Pandolfini in Florence yesterday (via @Mweilc). Laurent de La Hyre is the name ascribed to the painting by several accounts on social media.
Christie's Paris November Sale
October 29 2025
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Christie's Paris have uploaded their upcoming Maîtres Anciens : Peintures - Dessins - Sculptures sale online. Bidding for this online sale will close on 18th November 2025.
$30m Canaletto coming up at Christie's New York
October 28 2025
Picture: Christie's via @old_master_fletch
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Big news today that Christie's New York will be offering Canaletto's The Bucintoro At The Molo On Ascension Day in January 2026. Press reports suggest it is expected to sell for over $30m. It had made £11,432,000 over its £4 - 6m estimate at Christie's London back in 2005. The auction house appear to be on Canaletto streak presently, having sold a similar Venetian scene by the artist for £27.5m earlier in July.
According to the article linked above:
The oil on canvas was commissioned around 1754 by the King family (later Earls of Lovelace) and remained in their possession for almost 200 years, according to the auction house.
Artcurial November Sale
October 28 2025
Picture: Artcurial
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
As the November Paris sale season is soon upon us, Artcurial have uploaded their upcoming Maîtres anciens & du XIXe siècle , Tableaux & sculptures sale online. The auction will take place on 25th November 2025.
The top lots include the aforementioned €2 - 4m rediscovered Guido Reni, a €1 - 2m Jean-Francois de Troy, a €400 - 600k Osias Beert and a €300 - 500k Guercino.
Hispanic Society Museum sale realises $2.19m
October 28 2025
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm late to news that the Hispanic Society Museum sale at Christie's New York realised $2,198,751 (all prices inc. commission) last week (spotted via. @ColeccionMMoret)
There were quite a few lots that soared past their estimates. This included the Portrait of Isabel de Borbón by the Circle of Rubens (pictured) which realised $330,200 over its $20k - 30k estimate, the Saint Dominic by the Workshop of El Greco which made $1,016,000 over its $100k - 150k estimate, the Portrait of Isabella of Portugal by a Follower of Titian which went for $215,900 over its $10k - 15k estimate and the Christ the Good Shepherd given to the Circle of Murillo which realised $40,460 over its $4k - 6k estimate.
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An impressive set of results that demonstrates copies of Old Masters sold in the right context can make serious sums (although, only the auction house will know how many buyers were may or may not have been existing philanthropic supporters of the museum).
Modigliani Soars!
October 27 2025
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
One of the several lots that soared in the recent Sotheby's Paris Modernités sale was the following Amedeo Modigliani entitled Elvire en buste. The work reached an impressive 26,982,500 EUR (inc. commission) over its 5.5 - 7.5m EUR estimate. The work was subject to an Irrevocable Bid and a House Guarantee (according to the auction house's website).
National Gallery auctioning-off benches
October 8 2025
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Social media has been full today with news that The National Gallery in London are auctioning-off their rather comfortable leather gallery benches later this month. The old benches are a fire hazard and a potential home for pests, apparently. Images I've seen floating around of the plain wooden ones which are replacing the old appear incredibly uncomfortable and unwelcoming indeed.
Dorotheum October Sale
October 6 2025
Picture: Dorotheum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Vienna's Dorotheum have uploaded their upcoming Alte Meister sale online. The auction will take place on 23rd October 2025.
De Ruyter brothers back together in Cologne
October 3 2025
Picture: Wallraf-Richartz Museum via CODART
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
CODART (the international network of curators of Dutch and Flemish art) has shared news that the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne have acquired Jan van Ravesteyn's portrait of Joannes de Ruyter (left) earlier this year in order to reunite it with the painting of his brother Daniel (right) which they acquired back in 2023. The portrait of Joannes was sold by Sotheby's London earlier in April for £40,460 (inc. commission).
According to the article:
Curator Anja Sevcik is now appealing to the public for help: “We’ve reunited the brothers, but our ‘family’ search isn’t over. We are now seeking information on the whereabouts of the children’s grandparents’ portraits.”
Portrait of Frederick acquired by Mississippi Museum of Art and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
October 3 2025
Picture: artnet
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Artnet has published an interesting article on the following portrait of a gentleman named Frederick, who was enslaved to the Nutt family of the Mississippi town of Natchez in the early/mid-nineteenth century. The painting was sold at Neal Auctions in New Orleans earlier in April where it realised $508,750 (inc. commission) and was subsequently acquired by the Mississippi Museum of Art and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. The article examines research into the painting and sitter.
Klaus Hegewisch Collection at Christie's London
September 30 2025
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Christie's London have uploaded their upcoming Spellbound: The Hegewisch Collection, Part I auction online. The sale contains an extensive collection of Prints & Drawings amassed by the late Klaus Hegewisch (d. 2014) and will take place on 16th October 2025.
Sleeper Alert!
September 27 2025
Picture: JSFineArt
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Oxfordshire (via. @RohanGreyFA) that the following 'Italian old master. The Virgin Madonna and Child' realised £685,000 (hammer price) over its starting bid of £200 at JSFineArt auctioneers today.
Another reader also kindly got in touch separately regarding another picture in the sale catalogued as 'Flemish School, 'La Boine Denemarque', a portrait of a Tudor lady' which made £20,000 (hammer price) presumably also with a low starting bid. Might this painting relate to the Christian II in the Society of Antiquaries? More news as and when it appears...
Update - The picture has since been removed from the auction house website. The two names connected with the picture on social media accounts are Perugino and Lo Spagna.
Hispanic Society Museum Online Auction at Christie's
September 23 2025
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Hispanic Society Museum in New York will be offering paintings for sale by the Workshop of El Greco (pictured), Hendrick de Somer, Agustín Esteve y Marqués and various works after or in the circle of Rubens, Zurbarán and Velázquez in a special online auction at Christie's New York next month. The sale, which ends on 17th October, is to benefit the museum's 'Collection Care and the Acquisition Fund'.
According to the auction house's website:
Property from the Hispanic Society Museum, to benefit Collection Care and the Acquisition Fund, traces the reach of Spanish influence across European painting from the late sixteenth to the early nineteenth century. Sacred imagery anchors the group: a canvas of Saint Dominic in Prayer from the workshop of El Greco; a Saint Francis in Ecstasy after Francisco de Zurbarán; and Hendrick de Somer’s Saint Jerome Hearing the Trumpet of the Last Judgement, steeped in the Neapolitan naturalism of Jusepe de Ribera.
Japanese Museum to sell $77.5m of Monets, Renoirs and Chagalls
September 21 2025
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News has arrived that the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art will be selling off a reported $77.5m of artworks by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, and Henry Moore at Christie's New York in November. The Sakura based museum, which is owned by the Japanese owned by Chemical company DIC Corporation, is currently planning to 'downsize and relocate' by reportedly selling off 25% of its collection.
The article above contains quotes from the Japanese art collector and entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa (not officially connected to the company) who said:
“Regarding the closure of the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art, if the collection is to be sold, I hope that they will first approach Japanese buyers so that the many masterpieces do not leave Japan. I will be waiting,” stated the Japanese billionaire and art collector, who appeared on the ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list in 2023.
[...]“Japanese people need to protect Japan’s traditional things, whether it’s the land, nature, art, or traditional culture, as much as possible. If we sell them off piece by piece for short-term profit, Japan will no longer be Japan. I need to earn enough to be able to buy and pass on the things that should be passed down to future generations.”
Lievens soars at Koller
September 19 2025
Picture: Koller
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A reader has kindly been in touch about the following Jan Lievens which soared to 260,000 CHF (hammer price) over its 10k - 15k CHF estimate earlier today at Koller. A saleroom notice suggests that additional provenance and literature was dug out in time for the sale.
Reynolds, Rubens, Sweerts, Dolci and more in the Manny Davidson Collection
September 18 2025
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Sotheby's Paris have published the cataloguing of some of the highlights of their upcoming The Manny Davidson Collection: A Life in Treasures and Benevolence - Evening Sale. The auction will take place on 5th November 2025. Amongst the Old Master highlights are paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds (pictured), Carlo Dolci, Michael Sweerts, Thomas de Keyser, Studio of Rembrandt and Peter Paul Rubens. Click on the link above to browse.
