There was an auction record for a drawing by Canaletto at Sotheby’s in London today. The Coronation of the Doge on the Scala dei Giganti sold for £2.6 million.
Greg Rubinstein, Worldwide Head of Old Master Drawings at Sotheby’s, said: “The record price realised today for Canaletto’s superb drawing is a fitting testimony to its importance and its quality. Nothing like it has been seen at auction. A more total expression of the essence of Canaletto’s genius as a draughtsman than this extraordinary drawing, which transports us to the very heart of 18th-century Venice, in all its glory, wit and mystery, is hard to imagine.”
Canaletto continues to draw crowds in London, both at Sotheby’s pre-sale exhibition and at The Queen’s Gallery, where Canaletto & the Art of Venice remains on view until 12 November.