Christie's NEW YORK IMPORTANT OLD MASTER PAINTINGS SALE THIS APRIL Christie’s New York annual Important Old Master Paintings sale takes place on April 19
and is expected to realize in excess of $50 million.
major painters of Venetian late quattrocento and this
work, The Madonna and Child in a landscape, is arguably the finest Venetian quattrocento painting to come
on the auction market in a generation (estimate: $2,000,000-3,000,000). At an early age Cima made
his way to Venice, where he undoubtedly studied Bellini’s altarpieces
and the more intimate Madonnas that the master was celebrated for.
From the outset Cima expressed a wholly personal language of
color, cool and clear and a strong sculptural sense. As the 1490s
progressed, his pictorial language was both forceful and
independent, and none of his Venetian contemporaries quite
matched his remarkable self-discipline of color. This particular
masterpiece is one of three autograph variants, the other two being
in the National Gallery in London and The North Carolina Museum
of Art.
Rice Portrait of Jane Austen (separate release available)
One of the world’s most intriguing literary portraits, The Rice Portrait of Jane
Austen by British society painter Ozias Humphry (1742-1810) is estimated to
fetch between $400,000 and $800,000, and is one of the most important
portraits in the history of English Literature. The only known oil painting of
arguably England’s most famous female writer, the work is being sold by direct
descendants of Jane Austen, and the painting has been in the family since its
creation.
J.M.W. Turner (separate release available)
Glaucus and Scylla, a magnificent oil on panel by J.M.W.
Turner, has recently been restituted to the heirs of John and
Anna Jaffé by the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth,
Texas. In 2005, Christie’s London offered four paintings
that were restituted to the family, including The Grand Canal,
Venice, with the Palazzo Bembo by Francesco Guardi, bought by
the Getty Museum for $7,605,488.
Estimated at $5,000,000-7,000,000, this visionary work is part
of Turner’s late period, where he sought to go beyond the
mere observation of nature by including historical or
mythological subjects within his landscapes as moral lessons in emulation of his idol, Claude
Lorrain.
Jacques Goudstikker (separate release available)
Christie’s is assisting the heirs of Jacques Goudstikker with the sale of over 140 of the 200 Old
Master pictures restituted to the family in February 2006. The sale of the pictures will take place
across three auctions: April 19 in New York, July 5 in London, and November 14 in Amsterdam.
The paintings to be sold represent a breathtaking overview of Dutch Old Master pictures from the
15th to 19th centuries, along with excellent examples from 16th century Germany, early Italian and 18th
century French works.
Arguably the most important collection of Old
Master pictures ever restituted, the pictures from
the collection will attract the attention of museums,
dealers and collectors alike, as these works have
not been on the market for over 65 years. The
Ferry boat with cattle on the River Vecht near Nijenrode
by Salomon van Ruysdael is one of the stars of the
New York sale and carries an estimate of
$3,000,000-5,000,000. Painted on panel, it is in
perfect condition: rich in impasto
