Old Masters

Now billed as ‘Master’ week, as opposed to ‘Old Master’ week, the traditional winter auction series in New York posted a solid performance whatever its title.

A previously unrecorded painting attributed to Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, the Italian Old Master known as il Guercino (1591-1666), has been consigned to Cambridge auction house Cheffins. It will be offered its sale on March 7-8 with an estimate of £80,000-120,000.

One of the few large-scale oil paintings by JMW Turner (1775-1851) left in private hands has been barred from export in the hope of finding a buyer in the UK.

Tiziano Vecellio, known as Titian, painted ‘Saint Margaret’ with the help of this workshop in around mid-1560s. It depicts Margaret of Antioch, the virgin martyr who escapes from Satan, pictured as a dragon. It is now being offered at Sotheby’s in New York on February 1 with an estimate $2-3m.

A classic vedute by Francesco Guardi (1712-93) that sold at Christie’s in London this summer has been blocked from export.

London dealers Agnews and Rafael Valls have jointly sold a 17th century portrait of a woman who suffered from a rare congenital condition to the Wellcome Collection.

A 17th century Old Master by Artemesia Gentileschi (1593-1652) depicting St Catherine of Alexandria has set a new auction record for the artist in Paris.

Four Old Master paintings from the collection of the late president of TEFAF, Willem Baron van Dedem, have been donated to the National Gallery.

A painting by the 17th century French master Nicholas Poussin (1594-1665) that once belonged to Lucien Bonaparte, the younger brother of Napoleon, is a highlight of an Old Master paintings auction being held by Tajan in Paris.

A member of the Saudi royal family has been identified as the winning bidder of Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi.

A painting by El Greco (1541-1614) led Christie’s latest Old Master evening sale in London when it was knocked down at £5.4m.