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The last intact multi-panelled altarpiece by Lucas Cranach the Elder and three remarkable works by Pieter Brueghel the Younger will feature at Sotheby’s Old Master and British Paintings sale in London on July 4.  The sale comprises 44 works with a combined estimate of more than £26 million.

There are three large paintings by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, led by the monumental Battle between Carnival and Lent (£4-6 million). Other highlights include two early 16th century masterpieces of the German Renaissance – Lucas Cranach the Elder’s Feilitzsch Altarpiece (£4-6 million) and Hans Baldung Grien’s jewel-like Virgin as Queen of Heaven (£1 – £1.5 million) – as well as Guido Reni’s monumental David with the Head of Goliath (£3-5 million). There are works from the Dutch Golden Age and a spectacular pair of Venetian views by Francesco Guardi (£1.2-1.8 million) which have been unseen for over a century.  UPDATE:  Brueghel’s Battle between Carnival and Lent sold for £4,521,250,, Hans Baldung Grien’s Virgin as Queen of Heaven made £2,113,250, Guido Reni’s David with the head of Goliath was withdrawn and the Guardi views made £1,385,250.

Lucas Cranach the Elder’s Feilitzsch Altarpiece is estimated at £4 – 6 million. (Click on image to enlarge).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £4,297,250.

Pieter Brueghel the Younger, The Tower of Babel, is estimated at £2-3 million. (Click on image to enlarge).  UPDATE:  This lot was withdrawn.

Walter Osborne. Feeding the Chickens.  UPDATE:  THIS LOT FAILED TO REACH ITS RESERVE AND WAS UNSOLD.

A masterwork by Walter Osborne will come under the hammer at Bonhams in London on July 11.  Feeding the chickens (1884-85), estimated at £500,000-700,000, was displayed in Dublin last February to mark the opening the Bonhams new offices on Molesworth Street.  It is from a private collection in Ireland and has not been seen on the open market since 1913.

The painting will feature at Bonhams sale of 19th century paintings, drawings and watercolors at New Bond St. on July 11 at 2 p.m.

UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for February 18, 2012).

A blind beggar with a boy and a dog (£50,000 – 80,000) from Rembrandt (1606-1669) and his school. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS MADE £133,250

SALES of Impressionist and Modern art at Christie’s and Sotheby’s in London this week brought in a total of £204,425,300.  Buyer’s from around the world participated and bidding was competitive and determined.  Each of the auction houses will host post war and contemporary art sales next week and Old Master and British paintings  and drawings in the first week of July.

A group of newly discovered drawings by Rembrandt (1606-1669) and his school will headline Christie’s sale of Old Master and Early British Drawings and Watercolours on July 3, during London’s Master Drawings week.

Picasso’s Femme assise 1949 was the top lot at Christie’s  Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale in London on June 20.  It made £8,553,250 in an auction which realised £92.5 million.  This figure excludes  Renoir’s Baigneuse.  It had been estimated at £12-18 million but was sold privately before the auction for a price that was within the estimate.  The price is not included in the overall results.

Jay Vincze, International Director and Head of The Impressionist and Modern sale commented:  “Quality, rarity and considered pricing were key to the successful results of this evening’s sale. Nearly every one of the top 10 lots was offered on the open market for the first time in 20 years or more, and in some cases for the first time in up to three generations; these stellar opportunities, coupled with intelligent estimates, attracted determined bidding. There were particularly notable prices for Surrealist works”.

In total 27 works of art sold for over £1 million and 36 for over $1 million.  There were artist records for Giorgio Morandi and Kurt Schwitters. (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for May 31, 2012).

UPDATE:  Christie’s combined sales of Impressionist and Modern Art in London this week brought in £115,225,300.

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Femme assise made £8,553,250 and was the top lot in the auction. Image courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd. (Click to enlarge).

Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964)
Natura morta made £1,385,250 a world record for the artist at auction. Image courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd. (Click to enlarge).

Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948)
Merzbild 9A Bild mit Damestein (L Merzbild L5) executed in 1919 made £1,273,250, a world record for the artist at auction. Image courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd. (Click to enlarge).

Étoile Bleue by Miro sold for a record price at Sotheby’s. (Click on image to enlarge).

THERE was a record for Joan Miró at Sotheby’s  in London this evening when a 1927 work Peinture (Étoile Bleue) sold for £23,561,250.  This evening’s record price – the highest price for any work of art sold in London thus far this year – coincides with a moment of unprecedented demand for Surrealist art. In the past year there has been records for Dali, Magritte and Paul Delvaux.  The previous record of £16.8 million for a Miro was estabished in London just four months ago.

Peinture (Étoile Bleue) is from Miró’s seminal dream paintings cycle.  There are examples at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Fondation Beyeler in Basle, the Tate in London and the Metropolitan in New York. The luscious blue palette he used influenced both Yves Klein and Mark Rothko.  The work was pursued by four determined bidders. In 2007 it sold at auction of £8.35 million.

Helena Newman, Chairman of Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Department, Europe, said “Peinture (Étoile Bleue) is one of Miró’s most important paintings, effortlessly bridging the transition between figurative and abstract art. His works from this period are supremely modern, timeless and of great universal appeal, making this precisely the type of painting that today’s international collectors are prepared to lock horns over, as they did this evening. ”

UPDATE: Sotheby’s London sales of  Impressionist & Modern Art this week achieved a combined total of £89.2m, bringing the total for Impressionist & Modern Art worldwide at Sotheby’s so far this year to £449m, a 12% increase on the same period last year.  This is the second highest year-to-date total for worldwide sales of Impressionist & Modern Art in the company’s history.  Bidders from 38 countries participated in the sales this week.

THE auction of European Sculpture and Works of Art: Medieval to Modern at Sotheby’s in London on July 3 comprises 200 lots estimated to bring in more than £4 million.  Highlights include a mid-13th century aquamanile (an implement for washing hands at the table)  in the shape of a leopard; a plaque identified as a missing section of the Shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne; a c1400  chesspiece representing a Queen; a fragmentary diptych with Scenes from the Life of Christ produced in Germany in the late 14th century; a French Gothic ivory known as the Sulzbach Virgin and Child from the 14th century and a partially glazed and polychromed terracotta of Christ the Redeemer, attributed to Giovanni della Robbia.

This French Gothic ivory known as the Sulzbach Virgin and Child is estimated at £300,000-500,000. (Click on image to enlarge).

Christ the Redeemer attributed to Giovanni della Robbia is estimated at £70,000-100,000. (Click on image to enlarge).