Detail of Hans Hoffman’s “A Hare in the Forest,” which fetched $2.6 million.

“Portrait of Giovanni Angelo” by Ambrogio Figino, $1.4 million.

Old Master Paintings at Sotheby’s Total $32.2 Million

NEW YORK CITY – On January 25, in a packed salesroom, auctions of Old Master paintings, including an Arts of the Renaissance theme sale, totaled $32.3 million.

Highlighting the events was a Hans Hoffmann painting, “A Hare in the Forest,” which sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum for $2.6 million. A half-length “Portrait of Giovanni Angelo,” 1570, by (Giovanni) Ambrogio Figino reached $1.4 million, nearly eight times its high estimate. The work hailed from an American private collection.

Additional highlights from the morning session of the Arts of the Renaissance sale were Sandro Botticelli’s “Madonna and Child,” which sold for $940,750 to a private collector, and Durer’s “Three Large Woodcut Series,” which surpassed a high estimate of $400,000 to sell for $533,750.

Claude Lorrian’s “Pastoral River Landscape,” which had last appeared on the market 11 years ago, reached $2.1 million against a low estimate of $1 million.

Margaret Schwartz, senior vice president and director of the European Works of Art department, said, “The market for great sculpture remains vigorous and the attraction to both Old Master painting and sculpture clients in this theme sale format brought strong results.”

Highlighting the group was a “Florentine Bronze Pacing Bull” from the Giambologna-Susini Workshop, which more than doubled its high estimate of $180,000, selling to an American private collector for $476,750.

Other highlights for the day included Jusepe de Ribera’s “The Raising of Lazarus,” which sold to an anonymous buyer for $1.9 million, and an important High Renaissance marble sculptural group of Adonis and his Hound which sold for $687,750 to an American private collector.