19th Century European Art

A tragic shipwreck provided the Danish marine painter Anton Melbye and his colleague John William Bottomley, a German of Irish origin, with a dramatic subject for their 2ft x 2ft 11in (60 x 90cm) oil painting The Wreck of the Anglo Saxon from 1863.

This Orientalist painting, 'Ecole coranique' by Etienne Dinet (1861-1929), will be offered by Jack-Philippe Ruellan in a sale in Vannes on November 7.

A pair of late oil landscapes by Silva Porto (1850-93), a pioneer of naturalism in Portugal whose works appear rarely outside his home country, drew multiple bids at Chichester saleroom Henry Adams (20% buyer’s premium).

At Ivoire Nantes’ (24% buyer’s premium inc VAT) auction in the French city on September 29, this 2ft 1in x 3ft (64 x 91cm) signed pastel by Louise Abbemé (1858-1927), showing the actress Sarah Bernhardt seated, sold for €8200 (£7455).

The October 10 auction at New York’s Arader Galleries includes the collection of the surgeon Dr Seymour Schwartz (2020) – a map collector Graham Arader considered something of a mentor.

A work by the Orientalist artist Alphonse Etienne Dinet (1861-1929) was the object of keen competition at Drouot Estimations (24% buyer’s premium) in Paris.

An oil painting by Alphonse Etienne Dinet from 1897 caused the greatest stir at a recent auction at Karl & Faber (25% buyer’s premium) in Munich.

A group of seven works from a private collection by René Charles Pierre Princeteau (1843-1919) appeared at the Roseberys sale on June 4, all of them selling for a combined £72,100. Interest was reported from France, Belgium and the US.

This pastel by the Barbizon school artist Jean-François Millet (1814-75) is one of the highlights in the Esprit du XIXème Siècle auction at Osenat in Fontainebleau on July 19.

A trio of oils by Venetian artist Antonio Ermolao Paoletti (1834-1912) were consigned to Dawsons (23% buyer’s premium) of Maidenhead from a private London collection.

It is thought that the German artist Adelheid Dietrich (1827-91), renowned for her incredibly detailed still-lifes of fruit and flowers, completed only 50 paintings during her career.

The move towards online auctions during the lockdown has not led to the disappearance of intense bidding battles, as witnessed with a number of works at the Daniel Katz auction (see main report) and earlier at the Rafael Valls sale (see ATG No 2440).

Painting went through lengthy ownership saga before being returned to family and then sold.

The migration to online sales that has occurred during the lockdown has brought about some noticeable changes to the art market. These include, not least, the profile of buyers at auctions.

'Portrait of a Young Girl with a Cigarette' was a high-flyer in a sale at Wendl (21% buyer’s premium) in Rudolstadt held before open auctions were prohibited by the German authorities.