Old Masters retain their value
An auction of Old Masters paintings at Sotheby's last night proved that certain parts of the art market are holding their value. The sale total of £36m ($57m) sat comfortably within its estimate, as keen bidders set new records.
The sale of 104 lots achieved a sold-by-lot rate of 69%, and a sold by value rate of 82%. Bidders, who were predominantly European, snubbed almost a third of the lots but bid strongly on the most sought after pieces.
Alexander Bell, co-chairman of old master paintings, Sotheby’s, said: “Tonight’s results demonstrate yet again the consistent underlying strength of the Old Master Paintings market."
While contemporary and impressionist art prices have slumped as much as 40% over the last 18 months, according to information provider ArtPrice, this has not been the case for old master paintings.
Sotheby’s department co-chairman George Gordon said: “Estimates are no lower than two years ago–the market has been maintained."
The star sale was Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s The Massacre of the Innocents, which sold for £4.6m, well surpassing a high estimate of £3.5m. It was followed by Jusepe de Ribera’s Prometheus, which sold for £3.9m—more than three times the pre-sale estimate of £1.2m and well in excess of the previous record auction price paid for the artist.
The Ribera was from the collection of Barbara Piasecka Johnson, a Polish-born philanthropist, which made almost £10m in a 56-lot sale as part of Sotheby’s old master evening auction.
Rival Christie's reports similar demand for old masters. On Tuesday Christie’s old masters sale reached a total of £20m, after an estimate of over £15m. Seventy-six per cent of the 63 lots sold –a 10% improvement on sell-through rates in recent years, buoyed by the inclusion of 19th-century paintings for the first time.
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