To keep it relevant, the old Master Trade has been trying to attract younger buyers to cope with its shrinking collector base, which often includes wealthy seniors. It’s not an easy task, but by encouraging purchases across categories and offering rare and unique pieces, this is enhanced by engaging narratives, top-notch homes see some success in the sticky market. Christie, Sotheby’s and Bonhams adopted these strategies this week when they held the Old Masters auction in London.
For Christie’s Old Masters Evening Sale, this house hangs in Canaletto’s Hat Venice, Bucintoro on the Ascension Day returns (About 1732), and paid off. The painting was once owned by the first British Prime Minister Robert Walpole, and was initially guaranteed by the House and later supported by a third-party guarantee. It exceeds its £20 million ($27.5 million) estimate and sells for £31.9 million ($43.7 million) (all reported prices include fees). That’s more than half of the total sales, totaling £600.8 million ($83.6 million), while its £40 million ($54.5 million) estimate is Canaletto’s new auction record. His previous record was £18.6 million ($24.6 million) Grand Canal from Balbi Palace to Rialto (1724),,,,, For sale in Sotheby’s London in 2005.
Micheal Moses of JP Mei and Ma Moses Art Market Consultancy tell Artnews Christie’s Canaletto sale “received a 5.5% return to previous owners, which outweighed the average compound annual earnings (CAR) of 43 Canaletto pieces in our repeat sales database.” The results were pretty good given the auction market year-on-year decline.
Tuesday’s sales were the highest in Christie’s senior master’s sales history (99%), with the highest in the House since 2012 (87%).
“[This weeks Old Masters auction results in London] Strong and above expectations, as there are no particularly good pictures for the sale, with some exceptions. Artnews.
He added: “In this market, you can see collectors want to buy artists with a record of success, and Old Masters offers it, whether it’s Rubens, Constable or Titian.”
Andrew Fletcher, Christie’s senior global director, told Artnews The 42 batches of works at auction on Tuesday are “are of a wide variety compared to similar sales 10 years ago.”
He said the five bids for Canaletto “all cross-category buyers”, which he said was the result of “a strategy that Christie used very much.”
Fletcher added that Sotheby’s private old master sales “has been outstanding for years.” It’s no surprise; the art consultant told Artnews With auctions struggling to get rid of all categories of grass, private sales are booming, especially for A-level jobs.
Sotheby’s is also pushing for cross-category bids to call for life to be called into the old masters game. Last December, Alex Branczik, the head of modern and modern art at the House, told me: “Collection across categories is something we’ve been witnessing for many years.”
Sotheby’s Old Masters Night Sales brought in £14.5 million ($19.9 million) on Wednesday, which is estimated to be within its £11.5 million to £17.8 million ($15.6 million to £24.2 million).
JMW Turner recently rediscovered Rocks from St. Vincent, Bristol (In 1792) sold to a private British collector for £1.9 million ($2.6 million), which was estimated to be seven times more, after being chased by four bidders. One of the unfortunate people is the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, which raised £109,000 ($148,000) to increase the chances of winning the job, when Turner was only 17 years old.
“Turner shows there are great masterpieces out there,” Julian Gascoigne, senior director of Sotheby’s specializing in early British painting, told him. Artnews. “In the wider population of Britain, Turner has a deep interest – he is an artist embedded in our collective psychology.”
George Gordon, co-chair of Sotheby’s Old Masters, said the result of the sale is a sign of a healthy market, “people are after they are rare and discovered.”
“[Sotheby’s] Still leading the global market this year, we just announced that in November we will offer some excellent works by Rubens, Reynolds, Michael Sweerts and Thomas de Keyser. ” Artnews.
Wednesday’s sell rate was 81%, and the deal witnessed three artist records: Lorenzo di Credit Saint Quirinus from Neuss (Unknown date) for £2.7 million ($3.7 million), Corneille de Lyon’s Portrait of a businessman (Undated) Priced at £863,600 (USD 1.2 million), Diana de Rosa Salome and St. John the Baptist (Undated) and priced at £317,500 (USD 430,000).
Aer emisia gentileschi’s David and Goliath’s head (circa 1638) – Drawing while the artist was in London, selling well for £2 million ($2.7 million).
In George Gower Portrait of Edward Monins of Waldershare (1575) was the most important result, selling for a price well above its overestimated £1.1 million ($1.5 million).
Lisa Greaves, head of old paintings at Bonhams, told Artnews This week’s sales performance “is typical of a typical market, because better works are stronger than the middle market.”
Bonhams saw more Asian collectors entering the Old Masters competition, she said that was partly due to successful marketing for buyers in the region. But, in what is increasingly called a buyer’s market, do houses find it difficult to entrust work?
“It’s tricky, but we’re lucky to be able to call on our long-term relationship with collectors, as shown in the Gower portrait,” Greaves said.
Finally, this week’s Old Masters auction is the first since the European Union’s new anti-trafficking legislation. This means that artworks worth more than two centuries and worth more than 18,000 ($21,000) are subject to stricter standards. Are dealers worried that this will be in trouble in more EU bureaucracies?
Dickinson told Artnews. “People who obviously don’t have a drafting don’t understand the complexity of the art market. It will affect some EU-based dealers, especially galleries involved in antiquities, Asian and African art. In the past, collectors didn’t have to worry about the source, so they didn’t record it as we do today, and a lot of it is lost history.”
