The picture of the Polish film actress Negri with her lover and fellow screen star Valentino was painted by Federico Beltran Masses (1885-1949), an artist who was born in Cuba but spent his childhood in Barcelona, studying at the Escola de la Llotja under Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida.
He became known as a portrait painter of the rich and famous, and had a penchant for women who attracted scandal.
The Hollywood duo met at a costume party and, according to Negri’s memoirs, became lovers after their second meeting. They remained so for a year, until Valentino’s untimely death from peritonitis in 1926 at the age of just 31.
Negri, who claimed to be engaged to him at the time of his death, apparently fainted over his coffin before escorting his body back to California by train.
The 5ft 4in x 4ft 3in (1.62 x 1.3m) signed oil on canvas had previously sold at Sotheby’s in November 2004 for £18,000 and here, after being consigned from a Spanish collection, it was offered with a £10,000-15,000 estimate.
On the day however it drew determined bidding which took it over ten times the low estimate before it was knocked down at £120,000 to a UK-based private buyer. With premium added, the price £149,000 represented a record for the artist, surpassing the premium-inclusive £132,500 set by Masses’ Alegoria de Carmen at Sotheby’s in November 2007.
Bonhams’ director of 19th Century Paintings Charles O’Brien said: “Masses built a successful career as a portraitist, and as a friend of Valentino’s, could capture moments of stillness in the pair’s otherwise dramatic lives. This is a very fine example of the artist’s art deco style, and it was no surprise that the bidding for it was so fierce.”
Bonhams’ auction of 19th Century European, Victorian and British Impressionist art on September 27 was led by a portrait of a young girl in a summer landscape by Sir George Clausen (1852-1944). Noon in the Hayfield, a 3ft 10 x 2ft 9in (1.17m x 84cm) oil on canvas from 1897-8 was estimated at £500,000-800,000 but was knocked down to a UK buyer slightly under predictions at £480,000.
Another Clausen portrait at the sale was Marie, A Peasant Girl of Quimperlé which also sold in the room at £62,000 against a £60,000-80,000 estimate.
Overall, the sale total was £3.4m including premium.
