Louis Jean Francois Lagrenée’s (1725–1805) “Venus Bathing” provided the highlight of the 400th Art and Antiques Auction conducted this summer by Nagel Auktionen. This painting, dated 1776, reveals a break with the rococo style. A propensity for classicism, expressed both in the reserved colors and refined painting technique, is characteristic of this French painter. When this painting came under the hammer, a bidding battle broke out among the international dealers, and when it was over, the painting had achieved $187,000, which the auction house believed to be a record price for paintings by Lagrenée on the international market.
One of the most convincing of the paintings of Old Masters was a depiction of “The Annunciation to the Virgin” assigned to the Emilian-Bolognese school in the first half of the Seventeenth Century. A label glued to the back of the work named Giacomo Cavedone as the artist. This painting was also sold to an international dealer for $49,000. A picture of the holy family with Saint Anna made its way to Italy. The wooden panel crafted by an artist close to the Roman-Bolognese school around 1620–30 was taken over by an Italian customer for $29,000.
Among the Nineteenth Century paintings, a signed church service scene by Edouard Henri Théophile Pingret (1788–1875) dated 1822 turned out to be a surprise. Unfortunately, Nagel’s specialists were unable to identify the persons portrayed, and thus the catalog description had to make do with “probably a First Communion in the Bonaparte house.” It can be assumed that the international trade was rather more in the know and therefore offered $102,000.
In a gratifying development, a private German customer offered $72,000 for Alexander Koester’s (1864–1932) oil on canvas duck painting. Wilhelm Leibl’s “Likeness of a Farm Girl” of 1892 was knocked down to the German trade for $61,000.
In the books, drawings, watercolors and art prints category that started off the June auction, a copy of the Liber Chronaricum printed in 1497 by Johann Schönsperger in Augsburg, also called the Small Schedel, changed hands for $17,000. Rembrandt’s 1639 etching of a standing peasant with a high hat came to $12,780.
Works of art and Art Nouveau was calmer than the first part of the auction. Among the notable offerings was a rare Kiel faience. This tureen with lid decorated with fine painted flowers in blue fireproof colors originating in the period of Johann Samuel Tännich (1763–1768) was esteemed to be worth $13,600. In the silver category, three upper Italian canon tables with plate glass inserts brought in $3,750, thanks to an Italian bidder. An ivory figure of a “Woman from the Middle East” attributed to Ferdinand Preiss made it to $15,350.
Among the clocks, a magnificent French mantel clock with a splendid case made of bronze and marble in imitation of the grave of Lorenzo de Medici in Florence, which was designed by Michelangelo, took first place at $17,900. A magnificent French mantel clock on a pedestal with a brass inlaid tortoise-shell case and gilded embellishments came to $10,230.
In the sculpture category, a terra cotta group depicting “ercules and Omphale” from the Eighteenth Century stood out, bringing in $13,600, twice its estimate. Saint Jerome, which probably originated at the same time in Italy, likewise a terra cotta sculpture, was bid up to $5,115 by a large number of interested bidders.
Furniture and furnishings sold very selectively. Among the best results were the $22,124 paid for a Viennese Biedermeier fixture for the top of an étagère. A splendid baroque hall cabinet from the Eighteenth Century, made of walnut and plum wood and fitted out with marquetry and block diamond decorations, was held to be worth $7,674.
Among the unsold lots was a museum ceiling painting from an old, thatch-roofed house in Schleswig-Holstein and a Hessian Louis XVI corner secretary desk with bookcase from the Eighteenth Century. On the whole, the June auction grossed $2.36 million.
All prices reported are converted from euros to US dollars and include the 33 percent buyer’s premium. For information, 11 649 69 0 or www.auction.de.
