A Bronze Bacchic Figure Supporting The Globe by Adriaen de Vries
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam was purchaser of the 1626 Bronze Bacchic Figure Supporting The Globe by Adriaen de Vries at Christie’s Exceptional Sale in New York last night. Purchased for $27,885,000 it was the top lot in the auction and set a world record for the artist and for any early European sculpture.
“Adriaen de Vries is the Dutch Michelangelo and his works are equally rare.Therefore it is absolutely great that we have been able to buy this fabulous sculpture for the Netherlands with the very generous support of many private donors and institutional funds.” said Wim Pijbes, General Director of the Rijksmuseum.
No other statue by de Vries has been in Dutch art collections until now. This bronze is considered to be one of his best works. It was rediscovered by chance in the courtyard of Schloss Sankt Martin (Austria) in 2010, where it had been since c. 1700. Most likely it was sold by the Dutch heirs of the sculptor after his death in 1626. Support from the Rembrandt Association (and the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfund), BankGiro Lottery, the Rijksmuseum Fund, the VSBfund, the Mondriaan Fund, a private donation and the Rijksmuseum International Circle, enabled the Rijksmuseum to acquire this important work of art.
Donald Johnston, Christie’s Head of European Sculpture, commented: The sale of Adriaen de Vries’s Bacchic Figure Supporting the Globe sets a new world record for any piece of early European Sculpture. This rediscovered bronze caught the imagination of a wide range of scholars, dealers and private collectors around the world, and we could not be more pleased that this masterpiece has ultimately found its way to the Rijksmuseum. We now look forward to building on the success of the de Vries with our upcoming sale of the Abbott Guggenheim collection of European sculpture and early clocks to be held by Christie’s New York on 27 January, and our stand alone sculpture sale in Paris on 16 June.