El Greco, St Dominic in Prayer. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR £9,154,500 – A RECORD FOR A SPANISH OLD MASTER.
For the first time in living memory two masterworks by El Greco will feature in the same sale. Christ on the Cross and St. Dominic in Prayer are among the highlights at Sotheby’s Old Master and British Paintings evening sale on July 3 in London. They will make their auction debut after more than 400 years and are estimated at £3-5 million each.
Giandomenico Tiepolo, Six frescoes. (Click to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £3,218,500, A RECORD FOR THE ARTIST.
Frescoes rarely appear at auction and unusually there is a set of six monumental gold ground frescoes by Tiepolo at this sale. Dating from 1760 and originally at the Palazzo Porto in Vicenza (designed by Palladio) they were removed in 1900 and brought to Berlin. Since 1966 they have been in the collection of Dr. Gustav Rau (1922-2002). The set is estimated at £3-5 million. The sale of 48 lots has a combined estimate of £23.7 million.
UPDATE: With an unprecedented level of participation from new markets and buyers from 33 countries the sale realised £35,048,000. El Greco’s Christ on the Cross sold for £3,442,500.