With the Old Masters Part I auction in London, the total achieved by the Old Masters sector at Sotheby's internationally in 2014 was $220 million.
Henry Wyndham, President of Sotheby's Europe : “Today's brilliant results are further proof of the interest of international collectors for works of the highest quality and provenance. Works of art of this level allow the market to express its full potential.”
Alex Bell, Co-President of Sotheby's for Ancient Painting: “Tonight's results – £68.3M – represent the all-time record for an Evening Sale of Old Masters at Sotheby's in London, vastly surpassing the total achieved in 2002 – which was £67.5M. With 17 world records and truly amazing international attendance, we have seen the market at its best. The secret of this success certainly lies in the provenance and quality of the collections presented. Held in the same private collection for centuries, many of the lots up for auction enjoyed the imprimatur of the Dukes of Northumberland and the Earls of Warwick, as well as the great discernment of XNUMXth century collectors such as Baron Coppée and Barbara Piasecka Johnson”
Mario Tavella, Vice-President of Sotheby's Europe and responsible for the TREASURES auction: “This edition of Treasures recorded the highest result in the history of a Decorative Arts auction at Sotheby's in London (€29.7M), which is directly related to the very high quality of the auction catalog produced.”
Pole:
- 81% sold (by lot)
- 95% of the lots were awarded at prices higher than their maximum estimates
- Record level of participation for an Old Master evening sale in London: 280 participants from 32 countries, with buyers from Asia, Russia, the Middle East, India and Latin America
- Russian bidding: 20% of the lots in the sale attracted bids from Russian buyers
- The top lot of the evening was George Stubbs' Tygers at Play, which realized £7,698,500 ($13,194,459/€9,677,046) (est. £4-6m/ €4.9-7.3m / $6.7-10m). Painted about 1770-75, this masterful depiction of two leopard cubs ranks among Stubbs' most popular subjects. The painting had rarely been seen in public, having been exhibited only four times since its original appearance at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Coming from a distinguished British aristocratic collection, it had remained in the possession of a single family until 1962, when it was acquired by the past owners. Tonight it was acquired by an Asian private collector
- 17 Auction Records including one for a drawing di Sandro Botticelli, the only drawing by the artist to have been offered at auction since the XNUMXth century, Study for St. Joseph Seated – sold for £1,314,500 ($2,252,922/ €1,652,332) (est. £1-1.5m / €1.2-1.8m/ $1.7-2.5m), 25 times the amount paid in 1988 by Barbara Piasecka Johnson at Sotheby's New York – equal to 52,710.
- Additional records set for John of Rimini (lot 17), Jan Brueghel the Elder (lot 19), Raffaellino Del Garbo (lot 25), Bartolomeo Cavarozzi (lot 30), Benedetto Gennari (lot 35), Jan Sanders Van Hemessen (lot 41), Jacob Huysmans (lot 42), George Romney (lot 43), Willem Kalf (lot 46), The Master of the Female Half-Lengths (lot 52), Willem van Nieulandt the Younger (lot 56), Hieronymus Francken II (lot 57), Dominic Serres (lot 60), Michele Marieschi (lot 61), a collaboration between Jan Brueghel the Younger and Hendrik van Balen the Elder (lot 2), and a work from the workshop of Albrecht Bouts (lot 7)
- A new auction record was set for John of Rimini when the wing of a diptych depicting episodes from the lives of the Virgin Mary and other saints by John of Rimini sold for £5,682,500 ($9,739,237/€7,142,926) – almost double its high estimate (est. £2-3m / €2.4-3.7m / $3.4-5m). Dating from about 1300-05, a pivotal moment in European painting, this beautifully preserved panel, painted in tempera on gold ground, had been in the collection of the Dukes of Northumberland since 1856
- Over half of the works (33 lots) offered tonight came from four of the world's most eminent aristocratic and private collections, including the celebrated collections of the Dukes of Northumberland, the Earls of Warwick, Barbara Piasecka Johnson and Baron Coppée
- With the auction of Old Masters Part I of London, the total achieved by the sector of Ancient painting at Sotheby's internationally in 2014 is equal to 220 MILLION DOLLARS.
