Auction News Network

Eva Gonzales Pastel Rockets Past Estimates

With its concentration on works by Tiepolo, El Greco, and Bernardo Bellotto, Sotheby’s auction this week of the late dealer Giancarlo Baroni’s collection provided a kind of kickoff to Old Masters week. It was an Impressionist painting that provided the highest price of the New York sale, however, when a pastel by Manet student Eva Gonzales, “La Demoiselle d’Honneur,” sold for $2,546,500, more than four times its high estimate of $600,000.

Raphael Drawing Sets Historic Record

Everything about the Raphael charcoal drawing is extraordinary, including its $48m price at last night’s Sotheby’s auction in London. It’s a record price for any work on paper. Known as “Head of an Apostle,” the painter drew several studies like it in preparation for his last masterpiece, “The Transfiguration” which hung above his bier when he died at 37 and is now in the Vatican museum.

Canaletto Painting & Olympic Beach Volleyball

Art patrons and volleyball fans will recognize il Canaletto’s 1853 rendering of the Horse Guard Parade at St. James Park, currently the venue for the 2012 Olympics’ bikini clad volleyball competitors. Vienna’s Dorotheum is selling the painting.

Rare Goya Painting Comes To Market

Goya paintings rarely come to market and Koller Swiss Auctions caused a stir when it announced that the Spaniard’s “Lot and his Daughters” will be auctioned in late September in Zurich. It had been hanging unrecognized in a private collection for the past 80 years, and may fetch $800,000 or more at the sale.

Constable Sells for $35.1m At Christie’s

The last time John Constable’s “The Lock” came on the auction market in 1990, it was acquired by the late Baron Hans Thyssen-Bornemisza for $16.9m, then a record for an English painting. Today in London it sold almost double that amount, or $35.1m, at Christie’s Old Master and British Paintings sale of , which brought in $133.5m.

Elizabeth Taylor’s Franz Hals Doubles Estimates

Is what may be a harbinger of what’s to come in Christie’s Impressionist sale next month that includes the collection of Elizabeth Taylor, the late actress’s Franz Hals painting more than doubled its high estimate at the auction house’s Old Masters sale in New York yesterday. The 17^th century “Portrait of A Man”—the only Old Masters painting owned by Taylor—was estimated at $700,000-$1m, but sold for $2.1m.

Two Masterworks For The Price Of One

If it’s a novelty, it’s a very valuable one. An unusual reversible painting by Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527-1593) is one of the highlights at Christie’s Old Master’s sale on January 25 in New York. Seen in one perspective, the oil depicts a basket of fruit. Inverted, it shows a man’s face. The expected price is also heady: $3m-$5m.

$150,000 Expected For Rembrandt Etching

The etching is a self-portrait by Rembrandt expected to go for an estimated $150,000.  Given the artist’s skill it’s probably an incredibly accurate picture of just what the Dutchman looked like in 1639, when he was 33. He certainly didn’t smile for the etcher. The signed and dated piece will be sold at Universal Live’s online auction Jan. 10. 

Canaletto Leads Old Masters Sale

In the mid-18^th century, the Venetian painter Canaletto was living in London, where he pursued commissions from wealthy patrons. It was while there in the years between 1747-55 that he probably painted a view of Venice’s Redentore and the church of San Giacomo. The canvas, which comes from the collection of the late Lady Forte, hasn’t been seen on the market since 1986. When Sotheby’s offers the painting at its Old Masters sale on January 26 in New York, it’s expected to sell for $5m-$7m.

Velazquez Portrait Brings $4.7m

A portrait by Velazquez, unknown until Bonhams discovered it amidst a consignment of another artist’s works, sold yesterday for $4.7m at the auction house’s Old Master Paintings sale in London. Had it been, as originally thought, the work of 19^th century British painter Matthew Shepperson, it would have carried an estimate of $320-$480. Instead, with its new attribution, it sold for some 10,000 times that amount.

Goya Leads Old Masters Sale

In coming days, works by Old Masters move into the forefront in London. A star lot at Christie’s on December 6th will be “Portrait of Juan Lopez de Robredo” by Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828). Offered for the first time at auction in nearly 20 years, it’s expected to realize $6.2m-$9.4m.

A Velázquez For $500? Try $5m

A Spanish masterpiece found lurking in a recent consignment of paintings from a 19th Century British artist to Bonham’s, London, turns out to be a portrait  of a fleshy gentleman done by Velázquez in the mid-1600’s. The discovery is expected to sell in the $5m range at an Old Master’s sale in December. Before the documentation, they thought it might go for $500 at auction.

Summer Cottage Find Yields $184,000

For the second time in 4-months in Connecticut, a neglected painting hanging in a basement or summer cottage was discovered, the latest example a Renaissance depiction of Madonna and Child ascribed to Giovanni Battisto that went for $184,000 over the weekend at Fairfield Auctions in Monroe, Ct.

Ryanair Founder’s Collection At Christie’s

Ryanair co-founder Dr. Tony Ryan bought Lyons Demesne, once one of Ireland’s finest houses, in 1996, after which the late billionaire restored the mansion and filled it with a vast amount of antique furniture and art. Of the 400-lots that Christie’s will offer on July 14^th in London, the most valuable item is likely to be an 18^th century portrait by Hugh Douglas Hamilton. Ryan paid over $600,000 for the pastel at Christie’s in 2000. On Thursday, it’s expected to fetch considerably less: $319,000-$478,00.

Update: The Hugh Douglas Hamilton portrait exceeded estimates at $537,239. In all, the sale brought in $4.7m, well above expectations.

Most Expensive Artwork Of 2011

More than half of the $76.5m that changed hands last night at Sotheby’s Old Masters auction in London came from the sale of just one painting. Francesco Guardi’s “Venice” sold for $42,865,102, bettering its high estimate by more than $2m. The price set a world record not just for the artist, but also for any work of art sold at auction this year.  Sotheby’s total for the event was $76,492,229, just under the high estimate for the night.