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  • Posts Tagged ‘Sir Peter Paul Rubens’

    GREATEST COLLECTION OF BAROQUE MASTERPIECES ASSEMBLED IN RECENT TIMES

    Wednesday, October 26th, 2022
    Sir Peter Paul Rubens – Salome presented with the severed head of Saint John the Baptist, c.1609 ($25,000,000 – 35,000,000) UPDATE: THIS MADE $26,926,600

    A key early Rubens masterpiece from the greatest private collection of Baroque paintings assembled in recent times will come up at Sotheby’s in New York next January. Collected with passion and rigor over three decades, the Fisch Davidson collection distills the essence and power of Baroque art between 1600 and 1650, comprising some of the very finest paintings in private hands by Guercino, Bernardo Cavallino, Valentin de Boulogne, Orazio Gentileschi and above all Sir Peter Paul Rubens.

    No less than ten works from the collection will headline Sotheby’s Master’s Week auctions, led by Sir Peter Paul Rubens’ Salome presented with the severed head of Saint John the Baptist.   It is estimated at $25-35 million. In advance of the sale Sotheby’s will tour highlights to Los Angeles, Hong Kong and London.

    Keith Christiansen, Curator Emeritus, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York said: “What distinguishes the Fisch Davidson collection is the sustained level of quality of the paintings, combined with a willingness to embrace powerful subjects that lesser collectors might find “difficult”. There is nothing shy about these pictures…. These are baroque paintings that speak with a contemporary voice. Their modernity lies in their probing, psychological dimension combined with dramatic flair, realised with brilliantly descriptive brushwork.”

    UPDATE: THE SALE OF THIS COLLECTION MADE $49,587,600

    RUBENS PORTRAIT TOPS CLASSIC ART AUCTION

    Thursday, July 30th, 2020

    A portrait of a young woman by Sir Peter Paul Rubens was the top lot at Christie’s Classic Art evening sale in London. It made £3,965,250 in a sale which brought in £21,157,250. There was global participation with buyers from 22 countries across five continents. The auction was sold 90% by value and 74% by lot.

    Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577-1640 Antwerp)
    Portrait of a young woman,

    NEWLY DISCOVERED RUBENS MAKES $5.1 MILLION IN NEW YORK

    Thursday, January 26th, 2017

    Sir Peter Paul Rubens – Study of a Horse with a Rider

    A rare example of a large-scale animal study by the Flemish painter Sir Peter Paul Rubens achieved $5.1 million at Sotheby’s sale of Old Masters in New York.  A rare example of a large-scale animal study by the artist, Study of a Horse with a Rider had been until recently described as by a follower of Sir Anthony Van Dyck. However, the authorship had been difficult to discern due to overpaint and background added later, which dominated the original scene. With the removal of these later additions, the canvas has been revealed as a work of high quality, and a typical example of the spirited and rapidly-painted oil sketches for which Rubens is celebrated.

    The sales of Old Master Drawings and Master Paintings and Sculpture at Sotheby’s  – part of Masters Week in New York – realised a total of $31.8 million.  Christopher Apostle, Head of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Department in New York, commented: “This evening we saw exceptional prices for several exceptional pictures – this market understands and appreciates a masterpiece when it sees one. That applies both to famed artists like Rubens and Botticelli, who continue to attract a global audience, as well as names celebrated among connoisseurs like Drost and de Coster, both of whom saw new auction records set tonight. We had strong private bidding across our field, including participation from Asian and Russian collectors, with Dutch 17th-century pictures, early Italian, and Flemish works performing particularly well.”

    A MASTERPIECE BY RUBENS AT CHRISTIE’S IN JULY

    Friday, March 11th, 2016

    SIR PETER PAUL RUBENS (Seigen 1577-1640 Antwerp), Lot and his Daughters, circa 1613-1614. Courtesy CHRISTIE'S IMAGES LTD. 2016

    SIR PETER PAUL RUBENS (Seigen 1577-1640 Antwerp), Lot and his Daughters, circa 1613-1614. Courtesy CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2016

    Sir Peter Paul Rubens’s masterpiece, Lot and his Daughters (circa 1613-1614) is to be sold by Christie’s  in London in July. An outstanding example of Rubens’s early maturity this is one of the most important paintings by the artist to have remained in private hands. It has been hidden from public view for over a century. Lot and his Daughters will be exhibited during Christie’s New York Classic Week on April 8-12 and in Hong Kong from May 26-30.  It will be the centerpiece of a curated week of sales, Classic Week, in London and will lead Christie’s Old Master & British Paintings evening dale on July 7.

    The work boasts a distinguished provenance. It was once part of the collections of wealthy Antwerp merchants; a Governor-General of the Spanish Netherlands; Joseph I Holy Roman Emperor; and the Dukes of Marlborough. It was included in the first volume of The English Connoisseur from 1766 and has since been listed in all the major publications on Rubens’s work. The sale of this painting by the quintessential artist of the Northern Baroque presents a rare opportunity for both international collectors and institutions.

    “After the historic private sale of two Rembrandt Portraits* to the French and Dutch states earlier this year, Christie’s is leading the masterpiece market by offering this monumental work by the other stellar artist of the Northern School, Sir Peter Paul Rubens. The impact of this painting in the flesh is overwhelming: we look forward to seeing the reactions of those who come to view it when we exhibit it in New York, Hong Kong and London.”  said Paul Raison, Deputy Chairman, Old Master Pictures.

    UPDATE: THIS MADE £44,882,500, THE HIGHEST PRICE EVER ACHIEVED FOR AN OLD MASTER AT CHRISTIE’S

    A RESCUED RUBENS FOR IRELAND’S NATIONAL GALLERY?

    Wednesday, November 18th, 2015

    Sir Peter Paul Rubens – Portrait of a Bearded Man (£2-3 million) © Christie’s Images Limited 2015

    Sir Peter Paul Rubens – Portrait of a Bearded Man (£2-3 million) © Christie’s Images Limited 2015

    It looks as if the Rubens from Russborough and other artworks scheduled to auctioned at Christie’s last July have now been rescued for the relatively impecunious Irish state. Rubens Head of a Bearded Man was the main lot in a planned sale of works from Russborough in Co. Wicklow designed to raise funds to maintain the house and grounds.  It is reported that the businessman Denis O’Brien has bought the Rubens for more than two million euro, though he has refused to confirm this.

    The Russborough Foundation said the process of finding donors for the works is ongoing. Under the S1003 scheme designed to encourage donations to Irish cultural institutions a taxpayer can write off 80% of the purchase cost with a ceiling of six million in respect of any single year. It is also reported that businessman John Gallagher has paid just under one million for another one of the works, The Adoration of the Shepherds by Adriaen Van Ostade, with the intention that it goes on display at the National Gallery. The businessman Lochlann Quinn has already acquired A Village Kermesse near Antwerp by David Teniers the Younger from the Russborough collection for the National Gallery.  All the works had been in storage and had not been seen in public for many years.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for May 1, 2015).