A Record Price at Christie's Old Master Sale
A Rembrandt painting unseen in public for nearly 40 years sold for a record 20.2 million pounds ($33.2 million) at auction in London on Tuesday, the highest ever paid at auction for the 17th century artist. Christie's said that "Portrait of a man, half-length, with his arms akimbo", painted in 1658, fetched the 4th highest-price paid at auction for any old masters painting. It was bought by an anonymous client bidding via telephone, Christie's said. The record for a Rembrandt previously stood at 19.8 million pounds (then $29 million) in December 2000 for "Portrait of a lady aged 62." The Rembrandt was the star lot in Christie's auction of old masters and 19th century works, which have stood up relatively well during a financial downturn that has hit much of the rest of the world art market. "We are delighted to have been able to exhibit this masterful portrait for the first time in nearly forty years leading up to the auction, and to have seen it realize such a strong price that reflects its importance and magnitude," said Richard Knight, international co-head of old masters at Christie's. The last time the 1658 Rembrandt painting was sold at auction was in 1930 when it fetched 18,500 pounds. It later went into a series of private collections in the United States and was last seen in public at an exhibition in Detroit in 1970. The top price at auction for any old master picture is 49.5 million pounds ($77 million) for "The Massacre of the Innocents" by Peter Paul Rubens set at Sotheby's in London in 2002.
along those same lines.....
San Diego Museum of Art Participates in Collaborative Examination of Rembrandt and His Circle
SAN DIEGO, CA.- On view at The San Diego Museum of Art December 5, 2009 through March 7, 2010, From "Rembrandt’s Studio: The Prints of Ferdinand Bol" will focus on printmaking in Rembrandt’s Holland and document the efforts of the Dutch painter and printmaker Ferdinand Bol to arrive at his own style while working with Rembrandt, the greatest artist of his time.
"From Rembrandt’s Studio: The Prints of Ferdinand Bol" is part of a joint effort with the J. Paul Getty Museum, among other museums in Southern California, to examine Rembrandt’s influence and work.
The exhibition brings together works from the permanent collection at The San Diego Museum of Art, a major group of loans from the collection of George C. Kenney II and Olga Kitsakos-Kenney, and additional loans from other California collections. Together, these constitute one of the world’s most complete sets of Bol’s etchings.
Impressions of nearly all of Bol’s etchings will be juxtaposed in the exhibition with examples of Rembrandt’s own graphic work of similar subjects. This exhibition is one of the first dedicated to Bol, the important but relatively little-known artist who worked alongside Rembrandt from the mid-1630s to 1642.
“Even after setting up a practice of his own, Bol remained one of Rembrandt’s most devoted and talented followers, and many of Bol’s works have long been mistaken for those of Rembrandt himself,” said John Marciari, curator of European art at The San Diego Museum of Art. “Because of the unique interplay between student and mentor, Museum visitors should leave the exhibition not only with an appreciation for Bol, but also with a clearer sense of ‘what makes a Rembrandt print a Rembrandt.’”
The San Diego Museum of Art’s exhibition is timed to coincide with "Drawings by Rembrandt and His Pupils: Telling the Difference", a major exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles December 8, 2009 through February 28, 2010. The exhibition, focusing on the artistic relationships between Rembrandt and his followers, will also provide the opportunity to study drawings by Rembrandt and Bol side-by-side.
Within San Diego, The San Diego Museum of Art joins forces with the Timken Museum of Art to present a strong combined showing of Rembrandt and Bol in Balboa Park.
Lastly....
“Head of a Muse”, by Raphael, sold for £29.2m, a world record price for any work on paper to go under the hammer, Christie's said. It was also a world record price for the artist.
Raphael's Head of a Muse was drawn as a study for a figure in Parnassus, one of the series of four frescoes in the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican which was commissioned by Pope Julius II and which was executed between 1508 and 1511.
The drawing, which was offered at public auction for the first time in more than 150 years, had been expected to sell for £12m to £16m.
It was bought by an anonymous client on the telephone.
The previous record price for a work on paper was Danseuse au repos, a pastel by Edgar Degas, which sold in New York in November last year for US dollars 37,042,500.
Benjamin Peronnet, from Christie's, said: "Raphael is universally recognised as one of the greatest artists in history, and we are extremely excited to have sold a beautiful drawing by his hand which played a major part in the execution of one of the masterpieces of European art.
"This truly exceptional drawing offers us a glimpse into the working mind of a genius.
"The drawing is not only a work of genius in its own right but is also related to one of the artist's great frescoes in the Vatican and has come down to us in remarkable condition."
