At recent Old Master sales in Vienna, Cologne and Munich, bidders were willing to go way over the odds, often disregarding the cautious attributions and valuations to follow their own convictions.
A case in point was the 2ft 8in x 2ft 2in (82 x 67cm) panel Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist on offer at Dorotheum (30/25% buyer’s premium) on April 24 in Vienna.
It was catalogued as the work of an “associate of Sandro Botticelli”, meaning that it was “created within the artist’s close sphere of influence”. In the 1950s, the painting was thought to be by the master himself, but later research now tends to the opinion that the background landscape could be attributed to the Florentine painter Gherardo di Giovanni del Fora.
There was no suggestion to the identity of the main artist in this latest auction. What was without doubt, however, was the provenance.
For many generations, until 1950, the painting belonged to the Albizzi family of Florence, highly influential aristocrats and one-time rivals of the Medici. It was later passed on to collectors in Mexico and America, among them the Hollywood actress Merle Oberon and her husband Bruno Pagliai. After several further changes of ownership, it was acquired by the unnamed vendor.
The bidding lasted several minutes and at the close of play, an international collector put up €470,000 (£401,710), considerably more than the €200,000 Dorotheum had been expecting.
Goya sketch
Portrait-sketch of the Infanta María Isabel, €550,000 (£470,085) at Dorotheum.
Another of the star lots in Vienna more than fulfilled the expectations. It was Goya’s portrait-sketch of the Infanta María Isabel, later Queen of the Two Sicilies, a preparatory work for the Portrait of the Family of Carlos IV, now in the Prado.
Details of the early provenance are somewhat sketchy but the portrait apparently passed by decent through the hands of many members of the Spanish royal family.
From 1912 onwards, its whereabouts are well documented. Since 1924, it has belonged to the Florentine collector Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi and his descendants. The five other closely related preparatory sketches for the final painting are all owned by the Prado.
Whether the museum joined in the bidding this time, cannot be ascertained. Bidding was certainly intense, with the hammer falling at €550,000 (£470,085), almost double the guide.
