Category Archives: Old Master Paintings

Rembrandt to Richter

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Ben Hanly on the Unusual Format of Sotheby’s Forthcoming ‘Rembrandt to Richter’ Sale

No doubt influenced by their hugely successful gamble in 2017 to sell Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi in their Post War and Contemporary sale rather than in its traditional Old Masters setting, Sotheby’s has decided to take a similar approach this month with its much lauded summer auction – From Rembrandt to Richter.

On 28th July Sotheby’s breaks with auction tradition and showcases the finest quality works from all periods within a single sale – their rational being that quality transcends chronological period, and that the traditional auction categories are now unnecessary at the top end of the market. Behind this laudable aesthetic judgement lies solid business acumen – Sotheby’s, along with all the major auctions houses, are very keen to expand audiences for the less hyped markets they represent, and to entice cash rich, young contemporary collectors to consider purchases in more traditional areas. What better way of doing this than putting a major Gerard Richter Triptych (Wolken) along side one of the last Rembrandt Self Portraits remaining in private hands – the idea being that if they looks great at Sotheby’s, why wouldn’t they look great in a collector’s home.

Only time will tell whether this gamble pays off, but it’s hard to see how it can fail with so many beautiful works on offer. One thing is for sure, the sale’s key lot – Rembrandt’s Self Portrait, estimated at £12-16m, is expected to achieve a very strong price, solidly in the £20m region. Bearing in mind the iconic nature of this work, even the expected bullish price in the £20s clearly illustrates the relative value of buying in alternative areas of the market in comparison to the staggering prices achieved at the top end of the Contemporary market.
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Auction results of the Rafael Valls sale at Sotheby’s

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Sectio from James Baker Pyne, 'Lyme Regis

James Baker Pyne, ‘Lyme Regis’

David Dallas, Old Master Specialist

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In mid-March I drew your attention to the upcoming sale of 100 Old Masters consigned to Sotheby’s by the West End dealer Rafael Valls. The entire sale was to be online in the first week of April. As the time drew nigh and the Corona virus started to truly bite I began to regret my final sentence which went “a sale in cyber-space could be the way forward.”

James Baker Pyne, 1800-1870 'Lyme Regis'

James Baker Pyne, 1800-1870
‘Lyme Regis’
Estimate (quite correctly in my opinion) £2,000-£3,000
Realised £30,000, which makes it the 3rd most expensive J B Pyne ever auctioned and almost three times the price of his 6ft masterpiece “The Vales of Ennerdale and Buttermere” which Sotheby’s sold in February of last year.


 
Italo-Flemish School, 17th Century 'Portrait of a Gentleman'

Italo-Flemish School, 17th Century
‘Portrait of a Gentleman’
Estimate £8,000-£12,000
Realised £275,000


 
I need not have worried. The sale was a complete and utter triumph! 98 of the 100 paintings sold, which is an extraordinary statistic and the prices achieved were also exceptional. The first lot went for five times the top estimate and this set the tone for the rest of the sale. The sale total was £1.6m.
Dutch School, circa 1640 'Portrait of a young girl'

Dutch School, Circa 1640
‘Portrait of a young girl’
Estimated at £8,000-£12,000
Realised £81,250


 
Raf, as he is universally known, has, with Simon Dickinson and Richard Knight, the greatest breadth of knowledge in paintings of anyone I know. I like his taste, the pictures were all in good state and he and Sotheby’s had estimated them at sensible levels. Nevertheless, what the auction results were an unexpected beacon of hope for the market at a desperately gloomy time.

Rafael Valls at Sotheby’s

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You may have read that Rafael Valls, the well-respected St James’s stalwart, is to offer 100 paintings form his eclectic stock at Sotheby’s in London, online, between the 1st – 8th of April. The viewing is terrestrial, but the auction is not.

This is not the first time a sole trader’s stock has come up for auction and single owner sales date back centuries. Sotheby’s has an enviable record in this regard. In October 1991 they had their first sale of the works of a living artist, when David Oxtoby consigned 100 works on paper of musicians of the 1950s to be sold in aid of Nordoff Robbins Music therapy. Next up, in September 2008, was the Damien Hirst sale, which grossed over $200m. Subsequently, most of the top London Antique Furniture dealers consigned their stock to auction, notably Hotspur, Mallet, Phillips and Harris and Pelham Galleries, but this was because their market had almost evaporated.

There are two things that set this sale apart from the above and from the Moretti Mannerlist sale of 2015 and the Otto Naumann retirement sale of 2018. The first is that this is just a small, perhaps toe-in-the-water, tranche of what Rafael Valls holds and the second is that it is online. This must appeal to a younger audience unfamiliar with Old Masters. Furthermore, as we find ourselves in a climate where gatherings are banned, viewing and auctioning a sale in cyber-space helps in maintaining motion within the art world.

Nordoff Robbins Music therapy: www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk

All Part of the Service!

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Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. (British, 1727-1788)

 

A Day in the Life of David Dallas, Old Master Specialist

Last spring, I went to value a collection of pictures, in which there was reputedly an early portrait by Gainsborough painted in Suffolk in the 1750s.
The client believed the work to be by Gainsborough as it was a family descendant and heirloom, however they had no provenance for the work to authenticate it and had been asked by their insurer for a valuation.

Was the work worth £800 or £80,000 was the question?

So, it was arranged for me to visit the client at his home to view the works. When I saw the painting, I immediately recognised it to be by Gainsborough, it was not only by him but also in a perfect state of preservation in its original carved and giltwood frame.

Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. (British, 1727-1788)
Portrait of Mr Pattison, bust length wearing a brown coat and white stock

Happily, I know the current Gainsborough experts, Hugh Belsey and Sue Sloman, and arranged with the clients approval to tell Hugh of its whereabouts in time for him to photograph it and include it in his Catalogue Raisonne of the artists’ portraits.

Our client was delighted as this will enable future generations of his family to be able to confirm with authority that the work is in fact a work by Gainsborough and in the Catalogue Raisoone. This firmly establishes the painting in the current most authoritative work on the artist, adding lustre to its reputation, as an authentic Gainsborough and, therefore, enhancing its value.
This is all part of our service and at no added cost to the client.

Our team of renowned and internationally recognised specialists are available to assist you covering all areas of Art, Antiques, Silver, Jewellery, Watches, Cars, Books and Manuscripts and other valuable collectables.

We provide a personal, professional, friendly, discreet and completely confidential service providing independent Valuations for insurance, inheritance tax purposes, divorce and family division and providing independent advice on buying and selling.

Review of Old Master Sales in July 2019

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As we approach the start of a new auction season, with Old Master Sales happening in London in October, it might be interesting to reflect on how the last season ended.
The Old Master Sales followed the pattern of the last 10 years. Ever since the world’s financial markets crashed in 2009 buyers have been very choosy about what they want to take home. Masterpieces, which in this instance, means good/great paintings in excellent condition and fresh to the market thrive, whereas the more mundane paintings and anything that looks as if it has been consigned by a dealer, struggle.

Circle of Sir Anthony van Dyck
Portrait of George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and his brother Lord Francis Villiers

The sale at Bonhams proved particularly difficult with the star lot, a set of The Four Elements attributed to Jan Brueghel the younger failing to find a buyer, which was also the fate of the Constable Oil Sketch of East Bergholt Common. Overall of the 60 lots offered, 25 were bought in, which is 42% of the sale total.

Thomas Gainsborough, R.A.
Going to Market, Early Morning

Christie’s was marginally more successful with 19 out of 50 lots in the evening sale failing to sell, which is 38%. Surprisingly, their day sale had a selling rate of 62.5% with 57 out of 152 lots being bought in. This sale was marginally more successful in percentage terms than the evening sale, which goes against the normal run of play. The most surprising lot in their day sale was a double portrait described as “Circle of van Dyck”, which made £323,250 against an estimate of £40,000-£60,000. More than one person believes in it, clearly!

Jusepe de Ribera
A Girl with a Tambourine (The Sense of Hearing)

Sotheby’s sales, which totalled £56.2m were the most successful for 5 years. The most extraordinary statistic of their evening sale was that there were more world records than bought in lots! Only 6 paintings failed to sell whereas, there were 9 world records broken, including ones for Gainsborough, whose “Going to Market, Early Morning” sold for £8.2m and Jusepe de Ribera’s “A Girl with a Tambourine” which sold for £5.9m, nearly twice the previous record.
The Sotheby’s sale is cause for optimism in the world of Old Masters, despite the current financial uncertainties.