Beauty, Beast Earn $6.8 Million as New Money Buys Old Masters
–By Lindsay Pollock
Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) — Hendrick Goltzius’ 1612 depiction of an erotic encounter between a voluptuous sleeping damsel and a satyr, once owned by Nazi Hermann Goering, fetched $6.8 million yesterday atSotheby’s in New York from an unidentified European collector who was bidding by phone.
The 6-foot-wide painting, “Jupiter and Antiope,” was estimated to sell for $8 million to $12 million, but drew interest from only one buyer.
Sotheby’s Old Master Painting sale otherwise sparked fairly healthy bidding, tallying $61.6 million.
“There is new money coming onto the field,” said New York dealer Richard Feigen, bidding from the front row. “The word is out that this is a good place to park money.”
Feigen was outbid on two 14th-century paintings, including Francesco di Vannuccio’s delicate gold-ground “Madonna and Child” reliquary which sold for $1 million, doubling the $500,000 presale high estimate. Feigen was bidding on behalf of a major U.S. art museum he declined to name.
The rare Goltzius had belonged to Abraham Adelsberger, a German Jewish toy manufacturer. His son-in-law sold the painting to Goering’s agents in 1941, according to Sotheby’s. It was eventually recovered by Allied troops who gave it to the Dutch government in 1946, where it remained on loan to various museums until it was restituted to Adelsberger’s heirs in 2009. The artist’s previous auction record was $1.5 million for the 1616 “Fall of Man,” sold at Christie’s in 1996.
Leonardo Wannabe
There was more paddle action on a painting of a woman with a mysterious smile, “Portrait of a Woman, Called ‘La Belle Ferronniere,’” which was once thought to be the handiwork of Leonardo da Vinci.
It was the subject of a high-profile court battle in the 1920s, pitting the U.S. owners against art dealer Sir Joseph Duveen, who had declared the work a copy. The work was sold at Sotheby’s as a “follower of Leonardo da Vinci,” and nevertheless went shooting over the $500,000 high estimate, selling for $1.5 million to an anonymous phone bidder. The work is now considered a French copy, painted around 1700-1750. “Anything even connected to Leonardo goes for a lot,” said Milan dealer Marco Voena, whose expression suggested he thought the price was excessive.
The top lot was Anthony van Dyck’s “Two Studies of a Bearded Man,” painted from a gaunt, bushy-bearded model. It was estimated to sell for $5 million to $7 million and sparked enough heat between two competing bidders to drive the price up to $7.25 million.
Disappearing Rembrandt
One of the stranger moments occurred as lot 194 came up for sale. Rembrandt’s 1632 “Portrait of a Young Woman in a Black Cap,” was estimated to sell for $8 million to $12 million. It had sold for $9 million in 2007 at Sotheby’s in New York.
At the current sale, Sotheby’s announced that the painting had been withdrawn at the request of the owner, leaving the European dealers clustered near the front of the crowded salesroom perplexed. One called out, “Why’s it not being sold?” No answer from the rostrum.
The Los Angeles Museum of Art was a big seller, unloading nine paintings, with funds slated for new acquisitions. The museum reaped $2.7 million, more than double the $1.3 million presale estimate for the group.
The museum’s priciest lot was Christoph Amberger’s circa- 1541 “Portrait of Hans Jakob Fugger,” depicting a handsome young man wearing a sword and posed in front of an emerald green drape. He hailed from the richest family in the Holy Roman Empire, according to Sotheby’s catalog, a famous banking and mercantile dynasty. The portrait fetched $1.2 million, well above the $300,000 presale forecast.
Museums were also big buyers this week. At Christie’s Jan. 27 sale, the top lot was Louis Leopold Boilly’s 1810 “The Entrance to the Turkish Garden Cafe,” which sold for $4.6 million to the J. Paul Getty Museum. Christie’s tallied $39.6 million including their Old Master painting, drawing and 19th- century artworks.
Estimates don’t include commissions, which are 25 percent on the first $50,000, 20 percent between $50,000 and $1 million, and 12 percent above $1 million.
To contact the reporter on the story: Lindsay Pollock in New York atlindsaypollock@yahoo.com;
SOURCE: Bloomberg.com
