Old Masters

Every year, a female portrait is chosen as the ‘Face of the Fair’ at CADA (see main story for fair details).

A record for a female Old Master and a Rubens with a royal connection was not quite enough to heat up bidding across the latest Old Master auction series in New York this winter.

'Master Drawings New York', the gallery-based event in Manhattan Upper East side started 13 years ago, timed to coincide with the major January/February auctions of Old Master paintings and drawings in the Big Apple.

Eight determined bidders were on hand when Karl & Faber (25% buyer’s premium) sold a floral still-life by Nicolaes van Veerendael (1640-91) at auction in Munich.

Toby Campbell of Rafael Valls specialises in Old Master paintings. The gallery, in London’s Duke Street, St James’s, stands annually at TEFAF Maastricht, which next runs from March 16-24, 2019.

After a summer series remembered for its quirky ‘warts and all’ portraiture and an improbable list of celebrity endorsers, including former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham who hosted a series of Sotheby’s consignments at her London fashion showroom, Old Masters were back in familiar territory for the latest offerings in London.

Results from the December 2018 auction series of Old Masters in London.

Golden Age Dutch art topped the bill at Bonhams in the December 5 sale via a fresh-to-market still-life attributed to the 17th century painter Pieter Claesz (1597-1660), which sold for over four times the estimate at £130,000.

Combining results from the Albada collection and its evening sale, Christie’s achieved its highest evening total for a December Old Masters sale in London for seven years.

Dutch and Flemish art also dominated takings at Sotheby's in New Bond Street on December 5. The category was 90% sold and netted the lion’s share of the sale at £24.6m (with premium), against hopes of £16.8m-23.7m.

Star turn in a sale held in the French city of Angers on December 5 was this small painting by the 17th century French artist Jacques Stella (1596-1657), below.

A series of portraits by some of the biggest names in the Old Master market led the way at the latest sales in this category in London. Among them were two versions of a Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) portrait – one fully ascribed to the artist.