Vermeer's "Woman with a Lute" on Loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art @ The Norton Simon Museum
Johannes Vermeer (Dutch, 1632–75), Woman with a Lute, ca. 1662–63. Oil on canvas. Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Collis P. Huntington, 1900.
The loan of “Woman with a Lute” comes as part of an agreement with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which borrowed the Simon’s Raphael painting “Madonna and Child with Book,” 1502–03, for the 2006 exhibition “Raphael at the Metropolitan: The Colonna Altarpiece.” In return, the Norton Simon Museum was given the opportunity to host this remarkable painting.
“We are delighted to welcome Vermeer’s ‘Woman with a Lute’ to Southern California,” says Norton Simon Museum President Walter W. Timoshuk. “Vermeer’s works are housed in museums in Europe and the Northeastern United States exclusively, thus the painting’s installation at the Norton Simon Museum presents a unique and riveting art-viewing experience to our visitors.”
“Woman with a Lute” will be installed in the Norton Simon Museum’s 17th-century Dutch gallery, alongside the Museum’s significant collection of Rembrandt portraits and other genre paintings. During the three-month installation, the Museum will present a series of free public programs centered on the special loan. This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
The Painting
Johannes Vermeer (Dutch, 1632–1675) is one of the world’s most venerated artists, yet he left behind only a few dozen paintings and no drawings or prints. One of Vermeer’s beloved “Pearl Pictures,” “Woman with a Lute” evokes expectation, longing, and perhaps even mindful restraint or temperance, all in a mere 20 x 18 inches. Objects familiar to viewers of Vermeer’s work, such as the remarkable pearl drop earring that catches the sunlight, the chair with lion-headed finials, the map of Europe and the yellow jacket trimmed in ermine, are carefully and precisely staged in this quiet interior scene. There is no doubt that the musician is the focal point here, and the large map, the imposing profiles of the lions’ heads and the signature-blue curtains on the leaded window all frame her face, and especially her eyes. Vermeer’s muted tones and gauze-like shadows capture a moment where we can imagine the music stopping long enough for this young woman to tune her instrument and perhaps catch the first glimpse of the object of her desire. The sheet music and the viola da gamba in the middle foreground hint at a pending duet, as does her look of longing and desire. The map of Europe, however, studded with sailing ships, may be a subtle suggestion that her wait, and the duet itself, may be somewhat delayed.
“Woman with a Lute” was in the collection of railroad developer Collis Potter Huntington, who bequeathed it and numerous other paintings to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His second wife, Arabella, and her son, Archer, were both given life interest in the painting, but it was passed to the Metropolitan Museum in 1925, the year after Arabella’s death. Other paintings from a collection that she herself assembled now reside at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, which was erected by Arabella’s later husband, Henry Huntington, the nephew of Collis Potter.
“Concealed/Revealed” @ Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Albrecht Dürer, Self-Portrait in a Full-Trimmed Coat, 1500. © Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen Munich, Doerner Institut.
MUNICH.- “Concealed/Revealed” is the fourth exhibition in the series celebrating the Alte Pinakothek’s 175th anniversary. The enigmatic title stands for a subject of enormous multiplicity. The exhibition is on view until September 18th, 2011.
Infrared reflectographs of underdrawings that – apart from a few exceptions – have never been seen before by a general audience, is on display. The Alte Pinakothek’s anniversary year is the perfect occasion to exhibit the best examples produced by digital infrared reflectography in the field of German Renaissance painting to a broad public.
Following two exhibitions with an emphasis on the history of the collections, “Vermeer in Munich” and “Cranach in Bavaria” – and the exhibition “Treasures from the Depot” which can be seen throughout the whole anniversary year, focussing on the subject of museum’ taske to preserve cultural treasures– the accent this time is on art technological research that is also usually carried out behind closed doors.
Investigating how an artist works, seeing with his eyes what nobody else has seen for centuries – using technical means it is now possible to make the invisible visible. Infrared reflectography has been used since the late 1960s for investigating painting techniques, having been perfected at the Doerner Institute since the early 1990s through the integration of digital technology – pioneering work at its best.
Infrared reflectography shows how an artist drew compositional sketches – so-called underdrawings – on panel or canvas before starting to paint. A first taste of this was displayed at the Dürer exhibition in 1998. Since then, numerous high-resolution digital infrared photographs of underdrawings have been made, the majority of which have never been on show before.
This exhibition is centred on eight prominent works. The original paintings and the infrared reflectographs are shown on a scale of 1:1 next to each other, enabling a direct comparison and a fascinating insight into Altdorfer’s, Cranach’s and Dürer’s creative works.
• The confidently executed underdrawing for Albrecht Altdorfer’s “Battle of Issus (Alexanderschlacht)” is rendered visible in a fascinating way by infrared reflectography and appears no less magnificent than the painting itself. With “Susanna and the Elders”, visitors to the exhibition will also be able to see how even great artists have to struggle with the problems of perspective.
• Visitors will be able to see the considerable precision with which Albrecht Dürer started working on his “Mater Dolorosa” (Mother of Sorrows), one of his earliest works from around 1495, and the absolute perfection of the underdrawing made a few years later for his “Self-Portrait” of around 1500.
• Lucas Cranach the Elder’s style of underdrawing is illustrated in two examples from two different phases during his lifetime. The brilliantly executed ‘Crucifixion’ of 1503 that the highly ambitious young artist – still far from routine workshop production – drew and painted entirely in his own hand, is compared and contrasted with the depiction of “Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg before Christ on the Cross” completed by artists in his workshop.
• Hans Baldung Grien is proven to be a meticulous draughtsman who leaves nothing to chance and whose underdrawing is like a drawing in its own right, being much more precise than necessary.
• To round off this selection, a wing of ‘St Sebastian’s Altar’ by the Augsburg painter Hans Holbein can be seen. Holbein reworked it into a ‘parting picture’ for his youngest son, Hans, who had left his native Augsburg a short time earlier, just when it had almost been completed.
The underdrawings do not just provide an insight into individual working methods and processes but are works of art with a beauty of their own – artists’ drawings that are not to be found in any print collection: rendered visible thanks to modern technology.
In the exhibition Albrecht Dürer’s “Mater Dolorosa” is on display in the Alte Pinakothek for the first time in 23 years following the successful completion of its restoration, having been severely damaged in an attack in 1988.
Albrecht Dürer, Self-Portrait in a Ful-Trimmed Coat, 1500. Detail, digital infrared reflectography © Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen Munich, Doerner Institut
Lucas Cranach the Elder, 'The Crucifixion of Christ', 1503, detail, Alte Pinakothek, digital infrared reflectogram: Lars Raffelt, Doerner Institute
Rarely Seen Masterworks from the Dutch Golden Age on View at the Legion of Honor This Summer
Godfried Schalcken (Made 1643-1706 The Hague), Young Girl Eating Sweets, 1680–85. Oil on panel, 7 3/8 x 6 1/8 inches (18.6 x 15.5 cm). The Rose-marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- One of the world's best private collections of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish paintings, including masterworks by Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Gerrit Dou, Jan Steen and others, is on view at the Legion of Honor from July 9 through October 2, 2011. Organized by the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, where it debuted earlier this year, Dutch and Flemish Masterworks from the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection presents paintings exceptional for their quality, superb condition and impeccable provenance.
Premier examples by the most talented artists of the Dutch Golden Age, many of these works are distinguished by a glowing quality of light reflecting Holland’s proximity to the sea and the swiftly changing weather patterns that sweep across the flat countryside. As exemplars of an unsurpassed period of artistic, cultural, scientific and commercial accomplishment, the paintings in the Van Otterloo collection provide a rich overview of one of the high points of Western European art.
The paintings in the Van Otterloo collection—over 70 portraits, still lifes, landscapes, history paintings, maritime scenes, city profiles and genre scenes—depict life in the 1600s as the Dutch Republic increased in maritime strength and came to dominate international trade. Elsewhere in Europe, the nobility and the Catholic Church were the principal patrons of the arts. But interestingly, in the Dutch Republic the merchant, middle and working classes that profited from expanded trade—often even tradesmen such as the butcher, baker and blacksmith—also provided a booming market for paintings.
In the Netherlands, the grand history and religious subjects favored in much of Europe fell out of fashion; Dutch artists began to create portraits not only of individuals, but also of the cities, buildings, landscape and society of this prospering nation. “I think it is this universality of artistic interest that appeals so much to modern audiences,” observes Dr. Lynn Federle Orr, the curator in charge of European art for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
“In the paintings of the Dutch Golden Age, we sense the achievements of a cohesive society, the benefits of honest labor, the warmth of a spare but comfortable home, the quiet beauty of a productive landscape. And occasionally we see ourselves (and our foibles) in the delightful antics depicted in Dutch genre scenes.” Flemish artists also added to the evolution of Dutch style. Lured by religious freedom and a better economic climate, in the late 1500s and early 1600s many artists fled northward from Flemish cities such as Antwerp, Brussels and Bruges to escape the on-going war with Spain. The Flemish artists brought with them a particularly Flemish stylistic voice as seen in their more elegant inflection. While chronicling all aspects of life and society, together Dutch and Flemish artists created a rich and variegated artistic legacy of unprecedented breadth and quality. The Van Otterloo paintings provide all of these experiences for the modern museum visitor.
Wilem Claesz. Heda (1594-1680), Still Live with Glasses and Tobacco, 1633. The Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection. Image courtesy Peabody Essex Museum
Exhibition Themes
Great works of art transcend categorization, but in the 17th century painters usually focused on one particular subject matter. However, they could investigate any one of a new wide range of themes, such as landscape and still life that previously had only been valued as elements within religious subjects. To provide structure for the vast array of Dutch and Flemish art in the Golden Age, this exhibition is organized to reflect the principal themes that artists explored in this period.
Dawn of the Golden Age
17th-century artists benefited from a widening of interest in the natural world, evident both among themselves and among their patrons. As the world expanded through exploration and scientific investigation, new specialized subjects intrigued the viewer. The Dutch, who after repelling decades of military incursions had gained a temporary truce with Spain, particularly cherished images of their once-contested countryside. As elsewhere in Europe, the depiction of landscape evolved gradually, moving from a relatively schematic and shallow pictorial construction to a fully illusionistic suggestion of depth and atmosphere.
Dutch artists emphasized the quintessential elements of their topography: a low horizon line seen across flat fields and rolling dunes and qualified by changing weather conditions. Often the Dutch countryside was populated with small figures and engaging details of daily life. The realities of climate and atmosphere always played a determining role in Dutch landscape painting. For example, well into the 17th century, Northern Europe endured an extremely cold period known as the "Little Ice Age." Inspired by the winter landscapes of Flemish artists who had fled to Amsterdam, Hendrick Avercamp created a career devoted to winterscapes and elevated the frosty subject to new heights in works such as his Winter Landscape Near a Village.
Hendrick Avercamp (1584-1634), Winter Landscape Near A Village, c. 1610-15. The Rose-marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection. Image courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Cityscapes and Architectural Paintings
Dutch cities also became the subject for the specialized artist’s interest. The prosperous and clean urban environment found advocates, none more accomplished than Jan van der Heyden. His View of the Westerkerk, Amsterdam captures the quiet elegance of a street in Amsterdam. Depictions of city streets and canals were matched by images of the interiors of buildings, particularly church interiors. Protestant churches in the Netherlands, often former Catholic churches requisitioned for Protestant use, were largely devoid of religious imagery. But the evocative play of light across stark architectural elements could also suggest the presence of the Divine, such as Pieter Saenredam's Interior of the St. Bavokerk, Haarlem. When displayed in the home such paintings became an expression of personal piety.
Jan van der Heyden (1637-1712), View of the Westerkerk, Amsterdam, c. 1667-70. The Rose-marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection.
Prosperous Dutch Burghers
Successful merchants, powerful politicians, influential scholars and other prominent individuals often commissioned portraits of themselves, their spouses and sometimes their children. Rembrandt's Portrait of Aeltje Uylenburgh, the unquestionable jewel of the Van Otterloo collection, is one of the finest portraits by Rembrandt in private hands. Although the artist painted it when he was only twenty-six, Rembrandt sensitively rendered the effects of age and tenderly captured his subject's soft cheeks, bright eyes and crisp linen cap.
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), Portrait of Aeltje Uylenburgh, 1632. The Rose-marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection. Image courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Art of Daily Life
The daily lives of the rich and poor became a new subject for painting during the Dutch Golden Age. These sometimes humorous genre scenes also contain allegorical symbolism. The importance of frugality and modesty, and the fleeting nature of life, were especially popular themes in a society grappling with how to express its newfound prosperity while maintaining pious and humble lives. In Sleeping Man Having His Pockets Picked by Nicolaes Maes, one of Rembrandt’s most gifted pupils, a woman deftly picks the pockets of a sleeping man while coyly inviting the viewer's silence. A beautiful and perhaps cautionary still life of glasses, jars, pipes and tobacco alludes to the sources for the man's drowsy vulnerability.
Nicolaes Maes (1634-1693), Sleeping man having his pockets picked, c. 1665. The Rose-marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection. Image courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Allegories of Myth and Morality
Intrigued by new translations of ancient Greek myths, many Dutch artists incorporated classical imagery in their work. In Aelbert Cuyp’s monumental canvas Orpheus Charming the Animals, one of the glories of the Van Otterloo collection, Orpheus plays the violin for an enchanted menagerie of animals from Europe and around the globe. Cuyp's ambitious paintings not only highlight his skills as a landscape and animal painter, but also the era's lively exchange of artistic, literary and scientific ideas. Cuyp, who never left Europe and would not have seen many of these animals firsthand, drew upon prints and stuffed specimens in aristocratic "cabinets of curiosities" to depict them.
Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691), Orpheus Charming the Animals, c. 1640. The Rose-marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection.
Land and Water
The Dutch Republic dramatically expanded its influence and financial prospects through voyages around the globe, becoming the dominant international maritime power in the 17th century. Accordingly, Dutch artists were the first to paint the sea in its own right—a reflection of the importance of water to the nation's psyche. Precise depictions of ships and atmospheric rendering of the weather often characterize maritime views. The fertile landscape was similarly a favorite new subject. Cloud-filled skies billowing over a narrow stretch of earth or sea emphasize the flat horizons for which the Netherlands is known.
Still Life: A Tabletop World
The carefully balanced compositions in Dutch still lifes are often visual odes to prosperity and pleasure, while moralistic symbolism lurks among the beautifully rendered objects. As the nation emerged as a powerful mercantile force, Dutch artists filled their canvases with the staples and luxuries of the trades they dominated—Dutch cheese, French wine, Baltic grain, South American tobacco and Asian porcelain and pepper.
When painting seemingly informal assemblages, Dutch artists played with balance and depth to enhance the drama and intimacy of the scene. In Jan Davidsz. de Heem's Glass Vase with Flowers on a Stone Ledge, the artist suggested light in seemingly magical ways, spotlighting the intensely colored flowers against a deep black background. The vase contains flowers that bloomed at different times of the year, enhancing their delicate beauty by combining faithful representation with impossibility.
Jan Brueghel the Elder (Brussels 1568–1625 Antwerp), Village Scene with a Canal, 1609. Oil on copper, 8 5/8 x 13 3/8 inches (22 x 34 cm). The Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection. Image courtesy Peabody Essex Mus
Gerrit Dou (1613–1675), Sleeping Dog (detail), 1650. Oil on panel, 6 ½ x 8 ½ inches. The Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection. Image courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Jan Lievens (1607-1674), Young Girl in Profile, 1631-2. The Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection. Image courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Eric Dou (1613-1675), Self-portrait, c, 1655. The Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection.
Frans Hals (1582/83-1666), Portrait of a Preacher, c. 1660. The Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection.
Isaack Koedijck (1617/18-1668), Barber-Surgeon Tending a Peasant's Foot, c. 1649-50. The Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection. Photo: WALTER SILVER
Emanuel de Witte (1616/18-1691/92), Interior of the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, c. 1660-65. The Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection. Photo: WALTER SILVER
View of Haarlem, c. 1670-75. The Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection
A lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci has been identified in an American collection
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Salvator Mundi, c. 1500 Oil on walnut panel, 25 13/16 X 17 7/8 inches (65.6 X 45.4 cm) © 2011 Salvator Mundi llc. Photo: Robert Simon, Tim Nighswander.
DOCUMENTED HISTORY
Leonardo's painting of the Salvator Mundi was long known to have existed, but was presumed to have been destroyed. The composition was documented in two preparatory drawings by Leonardo and more than 20 painted copies by students and followers of the artist, as well as a meticulous 1650 etching made after the original painting by the Bohemian artist Wenceslaus Hollar.
ROYAL PROVENANCE
The recently rediscovered painting was first recorded in the art collection of King Charles I of England in 1649. It was sold after his death, returned to the Crown upon the accession of Charles II, and later passed to the collection of the Duke of Buckingham, whose son put it at auction in 1763 following the sale of Buckingham House (now Palace) to the King. All trace of the work was then lost until 1900, when the picture was acquired by Sir Frederick Cook, but by then the painting had been damaged, disfigured by overpaint, and its authorship by Leonardo forgotten. Cook's descendants sold the painting at auction in 1958, when it brought 45 pounds Sterling. A photograph taken before 1912 records its compromised appearance at that time. This photograph has recently been circulated in the media, as has another photo [with Christ in a red tunic], incorrectly identified as the (recently rediscovered) work. In 2005, the painting was acquired from an American estate and brought to a New York art historian and private dealer named Robert Simon for study. The Salvator Mundi is privately owned and not currently for sale.
CONSERVATION & AUTHENTICATION
After an extensive conservation treatment, the painting was examined by a series of international scholars. An unequivocal consensus was reached that the Salvator Mundi was the original by Leonardo da Vinci. Opinions vary slightly in the matter of dating, with some assigning the work to the late 1490's, and others placing it after 1500.
Scholars were convinced of Leonardo's authorship due to the painting's adherence in style to the artist's known paintings; the quality of execution; the relationship of the painting to the two preparatory drawings; its correspondence to Wenceslaus Hollar's etching; its superiority to the numerous versions of the known composition; and the presence of pentimenti, or changes by the artist not found in copies.
Francesco Guardi, (Venice 1712 - 1793), The piazza San Marco with the Basilica and campanile.
Francesco Guardi, (Venice 1712 - 1793), The Piazza San Marco with the Basilica and Campanile. Photo Sotheby's
oil on panel, 23.8 by 33 cm.; 9 3/8 by 13 in. ESTIMATE 400,000-600,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 735,650 GBP
PROVENANCE; Baron E. de Beurnonville, Paris, before 1881;
His sale, Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, 9-16 May 1881, lot 647;
M. Antoine Marmontel, Place St. Marc, Paris;
His sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 28-29 March 1898, lot 2;
M. Carlo Broglio, Paris, until 1950;
Mrs. Berndt, Paris;
Anonymous sale, Paris, Musée Galliéra, 20-21 June 1966, lot 38;
Schäffer collection, Zurich (according to Morassi [see Literature]).
With Newhouse Galleries, New York;
From whom acquired by the present collector in 1967.
LITERATURE: H. Mireur, Dictionnaire des ventes d'art faites en France et à l'étranger pendant les XVIII et XIX siècles, vol. III, Paris 1911, p. 375;
The Burlington Magazine, vol. 108, no. 758, May 1966, reproduced p. xxxviii;
A. Morassi, Guardi. I dipinti, Venice 1973 (and subsequent editions), vol. I, p. 373, no. 333, reproduced vol. II, fig. 362.
NOTE: This beautiful and atmospheric depiction of the Piazza San Marco has been dated 1775-1785 by Antonio Morassi. It is one of a number of such depictions of the famous centre of Venice that the artist completed for his patrons, many of whom were foreigners on the Grand Tour.
The view is taken from San Geminiano across the Piazza towards the elaborate and delicate facade of the Basilica di San Marco. To the left, the Procuratie Vecchie is cast in shadow, which extends into the centre of the square, while to the right, the Procuratie Nuove is bathed in soft light. Some distance in front and to the right of the basilica, the Campanile rises dramatically against the pale blue cloud-speckled sky. A corner of the Doge's palace is just visible to the right of the Campanile. The square is populated by various figures who stroll leisurely together or chat in small groups. Guardi's quick, calligraphic lines and short, almost feathery brushstrokes animate the figures, imbuing them with the appearance of interrupted motion. The two ragazotti in the immediate foreground, bent over their heavy baskets, are excellent examples of Guardi's figural types. The vibrant red scrap of fabric that one of the men is tucking into his sack provides a beautiful counterpoint to the blues and greys that dominate the composition. By repeating this red in small touches throughout the figures in the Piazza, Guardi not only achieves a harmonious balance to his palette, but also causes his viewer's eye to move between the spots of colour, never remaining static.
Although numerous variations of this view exist, Morassi considered the present work of "qualità eccellente" (see Literature). The loose, free brushwork, light palette and playful effects of atmosphere and colour combine to create a magical, almost ethereal view of one of Venice's best-known landmarks.
Sotheby's. Old Master and British Paintings Evening Sale. London, 6 july 2011 www.sothebys.com
Ecole italienne du XVIIIe siècle. Vues de Venise.
Ecole italienne du XVIIIe siècle. Vues de Venise. photo Delorme & Collin du Boca
Paire d'huiles sur toile. 59 × 73 cm - Estimation : 10 000 - 12 000 €
Delorme & Collin du Bocage. Mardi 02 août à 19h00. HOTEL MAJESTIC BARRIÈRE 10 La Croisette, 06407 Cannes - Salon Croisette et le Salon Dinard. EMail : info@parisencheres.com - Tél. : 01 58 18 39 05
Sotheby's Achieves Second Highest Price for Any Old Master Painting at Auction in London
Francesco Guardi, Venice, a View of the Rialto Bridge, Looking North, from the Fondamenta del Carbon (detail), oil on canvas, 120 x 203.7cm. Estimate 15,000,000-25,000,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 26,697,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.
LONDON.- Tonight Sotheby’s London Old Master & British Paintings Evening Sale was led by Francesco Guardi’s monumental masterpiece Venice, a View of the Rialto Bridge, Looking North, from the Fondamenta del Carbon, which established the highest price of the week of London Old Master Sales when it sold for an astonishing £26,697,250/$42,865,105/ €29,834,146 (est. £15-25 million*). Achieving a record as the 2nd highest price for any Old Master Painting sold at auction, a record for any Venetian view painting at auction**, as well as a record for the artist’s work***, the painting was sought after by two determined bidders and finally sold to an anonymous telephone bidder. Overall the sale achieved a total of £47,640,900/$76,492,229/ €53,238,651 (pre-sale est. £31,110,000-48,120,000), with an average lot value for the works sold of £952,818 million. The sale was 68.5% sold by lot and 91.6% sold by value.
Commenting on the sale, Alex Bell, Sotheby’s Co-Chairman, Old Master Paintings, Worldwide, said: “This evening’s auction provided collectors with a unique opportunity to acquire one of Francesco Guardi’s greatest masterpieces. The price established tonight sets a new auction benchmark – not just for the artist but for any view painting and indeed is the second-highest price ever paid at auction for an Old Master painting.”
Venice, a view of the Rialto Bridge, Looking North, from the Fondamenta del Carbon
Francesco Guardi’s monumental Venetian view painting, measuring 115 by 199.5cm, is one of four works that the artist painted on this grand scale. All executed at around the same time in the late 1760s, together they constitute the pinnacle of the artist’s output as a painter of vedute and are generally considered to be Guardi’s greatest works – the first and fullest expression of the artist’s mature style. While one of the four paintings on this scale was destroyed in a fire in the mid-20th century, this painting and its pendant have remained together until very recently.
Francesco Guardi, Venice, a View of the Rialto Bridge, Looking North, from the Fondamenta del Carbon (detail), oil on canvas, 120 x 203.7cm. Estimate 15,000,000-25,000,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 26,697,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.
Seven further artist records achieved tonight for:
An exceptionally rare Hans Schäufelein double-sided, tempera and oil altarpiece panel, The Dormition of the Virgin, realised £2,729,250/$4,382,084/¤3,049,934, far exceeding its high estimate (est. £1.5-2 million).
Hans Schäufelein (Nrdlingen 1482/3-circa 1539/40), A double-sided, tempera and oil altarpiece panel, inner sde: The Dormition of the Virgin, outer side: Christ carrying the Cross, tempera and oil on panel, made up of several vertical planks of pine; 139.5 by 135 cm.; 55 by 53 1/8 in. Estimate 1,500,000-2,000,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 2,729,250 GBP1,500,000-2,000,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 2,729,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's
Madonna and child with the infant Saint John the Baptist by Antonio Allegri, better known as Correggio sold for £3,625,250 /$5,820,701/€4,051,213 (est. £2-3 million
Antonio Allegri called Correggio (Correggio 1489 (?) - 1534), Madonna and child with the infant Saint John the Baptist, oil on panel, 45 by 35.5 cm.; 17 3/4 by 14 in. Estimate 2,000,000-3,000,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 3,625,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's
John de Critz the Elder’s oil on panel Portrait of James I realised £199,250/$319,916/¤222,662 (est. £80,000-120,000).
John de Critz the Elder (Antwerp 1551/2 - 1642 London), Portrait of James I, inscribed on an old label, verso: Wm. Phelips / Montacute House, oil on panel, 113 by 87.5 cm.; 44 ½ by 34 ½ in. Estimate 80,000-120,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 199,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's
Jacob Knyff’s Charles II and James, Duke of York, on board H.M.S. Triumph, with three royal yachts off Dover fetched £169,250/$271,748/¤189,137 (est. £100,000-150,000).
Jacob Knyff (Haarlem 1638 - 1681 London), Charles II and James, Duke of York, on board H.M.S. Triumph, with three royal yachts off Dover, oil on canvas, 120.5 by 174 cm.; 47 1/2 by 68 1/2 in. Estimate 100,000-150,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 169,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's
Francesco de Michele’s Triptych: Central panel: Saint Gregory the Great: left wing: Saint Catherine of Alexandria: right wing: Saint Jerome realised £241,250/$387,351/¤269,597 (est. £200,000-£300,000).
Francesco de Michele (Active in Florence during the last quarter of the 14th century) , Triptych: Central panel: Saint Gregory the Great: left wing: Saint Catherine of Alexandria: right wing: Saint Jerome, tempera on panel, gold ground, left wing:124.5 by 56.5 cm.; 49 by 22 1/4 in.central panel: 130.6 by 56.5 cm.; 51 3/8 by 22 1/4 in. (extended by 11.5 cm along the upper edge, the corners made up)right wing: 124.7 by 56 cm.; 49 by 22 in. Estimate 200,000-300,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 241,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's
Vittore Ghislandi, called Fra Galgario, Portrait of a young man in a green tunic sold for £325,250/$387,351/¤269,597 (est. £60,000-80,000).
Vittore Ghislandi, called Fra Galgario, Portrait of a young man in a green tunic, oil on canvas, oval, 98.4 by 82.1 cm.; 38 3/4 by 32 3/8 in. Estimate 60,000-80,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 325,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's
Anthonie Verstraelen’s A winter landscape with figures skating on a frozen river beside a village raised £481,250/$772,695/¤537,796 (est. £150,000-200,000).
Anthonie Verstraelen (Gorinchem 1594 - 1641 Amsterdam), A winter landscape with figures skating on a frozen river beside a village signed with monogram lower right: AVS in ligature, oil on oak panel; 35.1 by 53.6 cm.; 13 3/4 by 21 2/8 in. Estimate 150,000-200,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 481,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's
Other notable prices this evening:
Sir Anthony Van Dyck’s Portrait of a Carmelite monk, head and shoulders, sold for £713,250/$1,145,194/€797,056 (est. £600,000-800,000). The intense and psychologically penetrating portrait is a hitherto unknown work, which Sotheby’s has discovered to have been painted by the youthful Van Dyck during the years he worked in Rubens’ studio.
Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - 1641 London), Portrait of a Carmelite monk, head and shoulders, oil on oak panel, the reverse marked with the brand of the Antwerp panel-makers' Guild and the maker's mark of Peter de Noble; 62.3 by 48 cm.; 24 1/2 by 19 in. Estimate 600,000-800,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 713,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's
Also by Van Dyck, A Bearded Man with Hands Raised sold for£457,250/$734,161/€510,976 (est. £200,000-300,000). An important oil study Van Dyck also executed while working in Rubens’ studio, the painting’s distinctive model helped Sotheby’s confirm the attribution to the great Flemish master.
Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - 1641 London), Study of a Bearded Man with Hands Raised, oil on canvas, ca. 1630; 89 by 55.5 cm.; 35 by 21 3/4 in. Estimate 200,000-300,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 457,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's
Portrait of a Bearded Gentleman, In a Black Beret with white plumage by Corneille de Lyon, sold for £385,250/$618,557/€430,516 (est. £150,000-200,000). This striking portrait, which has remained in the same family’s collection for nearly two hundred years, is as notable for the immediacy of the execution as much as for its exceptional state of preservation.
Corneille de Lyon (Dutch, The Hague circa 1500/15 - 1575 Lyon), Portrait of a Bearded Gentleman, In a Black Beret with white plumage, oil on softwood, probably beech panel; 17.9 by 14.8 cm.; 7 by 5 7/8 in. Estilmate 150,000-200,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 385,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's
British Paintings
John Constable’s Salisbury Cathedral From Then Meadows sold for £657,250/$1,055,281/€734,476 (est. £500,000-700,000). This recently re-discovered view of Salisbury Cathedral in a storm offers a revealing insight into the inner (emotional) turmoil and personal anguish that this most complex artist was experiencing and attempting to come to terms with towards the latter part of his life.
John Constable, Salisbury Cathedral From Then Meadows, oil on canvas, 71 by 90 cm.; 28 by 35 1/2 in. Estimate 500,000-700,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 657,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's
Sale statistics:
• Sold by lot: 68.5%
• Sold by value: 91.6%
• Of the 73 lots offered, 50 sold
• Average lot value: £952,818
* Pre-sale estimates do not include buyer’s premium
Thomas Hudson (Devon 1701-1779 Twickenham), Portrait of Assheton Curzon, 1st Viscount Curzon
Thomas Hudson (Devon 1701-1779 Twickenham), Portrait of Assheton Curzon, 1st Viscount Curzon, three-quarter-length, in a brown velvet coat and blue waistcoat trimmed with gold, a tricorn hat beneath his left arm. Photo Bonhams
oil on canvas. 127 x 94.5cm (50x 37 3/16in). Sold for £24,0000
PROVENANCE: The sitter, and thence by family descent to the present owner
Curzon was the second son of Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 4th Baronet, and Mary, daughter of Sir Ralph Assheton, 2nd Baronet. He was a younger son of Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Scarsdale. Educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, he as Member of Parliament for Clitheroe from 1754 to 1777 and from 1792 to 1794. The latter year he was raised to the peerage as Baron Curzon, of Penn in the County of Buckingham, and in 1802 he was further honoured when he became Viscount Curzon, of Penn in the County of Buckingham.
Bonhams. Old Master Paintings, 6 Jul 2011, New Bond Street www.bonhams.com
Bolognese School, late 16th Century, Portrait of a gentleman, three-quarter-length, in a black cloak, hat and a white lace colla
Bolognese School, late 16th Century, Portrait of a gentleman, three-quarter-length, in a black cloak, hat and a white lace collar. Photo Bonhams
oil on canvas; 134.2 x 97.7cm (52 13/16x 38 7/16in). Sold for £30,000
Bonhams. Old Master Paintings, 6 Jul 2011, New Bond Street www.bonhams.com
Rosalba Carriera (Venice 1675-1757), Portrait of a young child, bust-length, in blue costume.
Rosalba Carriera (Venice 1675-1757), Portrait of a young child, bust-length, in blue costume. Photo Bonhams
pastel on paper, laid down on board, 30.6 x 24.2cm (12 1/16x 9 1/2in). unframed. Estimate: £10,000 - 15,000, € 11,000 - 17,000, US$ 16,000 - 25,000. Unsold
