: Huge crowds flocked to Sotheby's on the evening of July 7 to
witness the first appearance of a Vermeer at auction since 1921.
The painting, "Young Woman Seated at the Virginals," is one of
only 36 known works by the artist. It was recently acknowledged
by scholars as a genuine Vermeer, following an 11-year program of
research and restoration.
The painting was the last remaining generally accepted work by
Vermeer still in private hands. Seven bidders drove the painting
to its final price of $30,006,650.
At the conclusion of the lot preceding the Vermeer, there was an
audible murmur of expectation from the audience, which grew to a
crescendo when a white-gloved member of Sotheby's staff brought
the painting into the saleroom.
The murmur quieted when Henry Wyndham, Sotheby's chairman and the
sale's auctioneer, opened the bidding. He began at $4.5 million
and the price quickly rose to $5.9 million. The bidding then
passed to two telephone bidders and they took the price to $11
million.
At that point, the Old Master paintings dealer Robert Noortman
raised his hand and bidding against Sotheby's expert George
Gordon, who was taking bids from an anonymous client on the
telephone, the price rose rapidly to $24 million. After a brief
hesitation, Noortman made one more bid before finally ceding the
battle to George Gordon. Wyndham brought the hammer down to
general applause.
Rare night scene by Sir Peter Paul Rubens circa 1617-18,
$4,561,510.
After the sale, Greg Rubinstein, introduced by Wyndham as
"the man who spent 11 years of his life discovering this
extraordinary painting," said he was "thrilled that the market had
shared the scholarly community's enthusiasm for the painting.
Having been involved with the painting for so long, I was delighted
to see it generate such excitement this evening."
Alex Bell, co-chairman of Sotheby's Old Master paintings
department worldwide, said: "The feeling of expectation in the
room tonight was closely reminiscent of the excitement we
witnessed two years ago when we sold Rubens' 'Massacre of the
Innocents' for £49.5 million [$76.7 million]. Both the Vermeer
and the Rubens were newly discovered or newly attributed works,
which added enormously to their appeal and to their eventual
record price."
In addition to the Vermeer, the sale saw strong, competitive
bidding throughout, with strong prices achieved for works by
Rubens, Lievens, Daddi, Cranach and many others. Records were set
for paintings by Jan Lievens and Bernardo Daddi. Overall, the
sale made a total of $55,349,832.
Lievens' "Study of the Head and Shoulders of an Old Bearded Man"
sold for $3,423,720, handsomely outstripping the presale estimate
of $370/550,000 and establishing a new auction record for the
artist. Painted when Lievens was just 22 years, the power of this
highly compelling work compares with that of Rembrandt's most
accomplished paintings. The picture previously belonged to the
famous Rotterdam collector and benefactor D.G. van Beuningen,
whose collections form the heart of the holdings of the Boijmans
van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam.
The second highest price of the evening was paid for a rare night
scene by Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), which fetched
$4,561,510. An intensely private work, the painting was kept by
Rubens for his own enjoyment and contemplation. Painted circa
1617-18, it stands as an important witness to Rubens' mastery of
the dramatic effects of light and to his complete, and early,
absorption of the influence of the celebrated Italian artist
Caravaggio.
An early Italian work, "The Coronation of the Virgin" by the
Florentine master Bernado Daddi, made $2,906,540. Painted in
around 1340-45, the work shows the moment when the Virgin Mary is
crowned the Queen of Heaven by her Son.
"The Coronation of the Virgin" by Florentine master Bernado
Daddi, $2,906,540.
Probably conceived as an independent devotional work intended
to adorn a church or private chapel, the panel fully demonstrates
the human intimacy and tenderness, the subtle color harmonies and
the attention to detail that together make Daddi one of the most
important Florentine painters of the first half of the Fourteenth
Century.
Other works that performed well included "The Head of Christ
Crowned with Thorns," a previously unrecorded work by Lucas
Cranach the Elder that sold for $1,251,570 and "Card Players at a
Table," one of the most elegant and engaging works from
Pieter de Hooch's Amsterdam period. It sold for $2,285,930.
Rounding out the sale's top ten were: Jan Brueghel the Elder, "A
River Scene with Boats Unloading at a Quay and Village Beyond,"
$1,044,700; Francois Boucher, "Le Moulin à Eau" and "Le
Pigeonnier" (two works), $796,450; Giovanni Francesco Barbieri,
called il Guercino, "Portrait of Francesco Righetti," $796,450;
and Gaspar van Wittel, called Vanvitelli, "Venice, A View of the
Island of San Maggiore" and "A View of the Island of San Michele
and Murano,"$713,710.
Prices reported include buyer's premium, which is 20 percent of
the first $100,000 and 12 percent thereafter.
