Roseberys London: The highly anticipated Old Master, 18th & 19th Century Pictures auction, on Thursday 4 June was the first sale to take place since the lockdown began. Despite the postponement and obstacles due to Covid-19, the auction was a great success, producing fantastic results throughout. With highlights including a Hunting scene, painted by French artist René Princeteau and a portrait of a lady in the manner of Italian artist Pierfrancesco Cittadini, both selling both for £30,000 each. 

On the overall sale, Marcus Grey, Head of Department, commented: Last Thursday’s auction showed some fantastic results for Roseberys with early portraiture dominating the highlights. A beautiful mid-17th century portrait attributed to the circle of Pierfrancesco Cittadini made a result of £30,000, whilst a unique portrait by Lavinia Fontana made £7,500. Also, our private collection of Portrait miniatures proved to be very popular, with Lot 4 selling for £6,875 and lot 20, a Portrait miniature of a high-ranking Napoleonic officer by Louis-Marie Sicardi- selling for £5,500. The results of the René Princeteau’s also showed that the market for this artist continues to be strong with many selling for the above estimate. 

Before the sale began, the internet clerks were briefed and ready to expect a busy day of sales. Expectations were set high due to the number of pre-registered bidders which exceeded 800, poised, and ready to compete for their lots throughout the day. 

The beginning of the sale saw a collection of 67 miniatures realise excellent results, with many achieving prices higher than their estimates. One being lot 4, circle of English artist Isaac Oliver. The portrait miniature of a lady in a glazed oval silver frame, sold for £6,875, over double its expected estimated value. 

Estimated to sell for £6,000 – £8,000, lot 72 was fiercely bid up to a successful sale price of £30,000. The Portrait of a lady, wearing a red Italo-Hispanic dress, holding a rose is circle of Italian artist Pierfrancesco Cittadini, 1616–1681. Born in Milan, Cittadini initially became a pupil of Daniele Crespi before heading to Bologna in the 1630s to establish himself as an artist in the workshop of Guido Reni, later rivaling his former master for altarpiece commissions within the city. The Portrait of a lady is typical of the artist’s style. Known for his attention to detail in the portraits of female sitters, the present oil on canvas characteristically displays the attention to the elaborate costume of the sitter and the rose she holds in her hand. 

Another work that sailed high above its estimate to £23,750 was lot 75. The oil on canvas depicting choppy waters with a whale and a sea-monster, is circle of Dutch artist Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom, 1562-1640. Hendrik Cornelisz Vroom was a Dutch Golden Age painter credited with being the founder of Dutch marine art or seascape painting. His work can be seen in the Rijksmuseum, Frans Hals Museum, and Westfriesmuseum. 

Previously sold at Sotheby’s London in 1993, lot 103, was successfully bid up to a final selling price of £8,125, from its original estimate of £2,000 – £3,000. The oil on canvas, titled Esther Before Ahasuerus, hails from the Genoese School, 17th century. 

Realising a price of £7,500, lot 96 is a beautiful self-portrait, with strong provenance by Italian artist Lavinia Fontana, 1552-1614. The, signed, inscribed, and dated oil on canvas self-portrait of the artist as St. Catherine of Alexandria, was painted in 1595. St. Catherine is portrayed with her traditional attributes gazing up to the heavens in Fontana’s typically Mannerist style. The detail and colour is employed vibrantly, reminiscent of the work of Sofonisba Anguissola, another female northern Italian Renaissance painter.

Titled Il Guercino, lot 109, study of a woman half-length with arm outstretched in red chalk on laid paper sold for £6,875. The Italian picture that was likely to be created around the period of 1591-1666, is from the workshop of Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, proving that there is still some market demand for good quality works on paper, a market that has suffered greatly over the last ten years. 

A collection of star lots within the auction came toward the end of the sale, with multiple bidders competing from Belgium, France, and the US. All the works by French artist René Charles Pierre Princeteau, 1843-1919, came from a private collection. A master in the depiction of equestrian subject matter, René Princeteau is considered to be one of the most highly sought-after academic French artists of the late 19th century. Lot 364, Early morning, bringing out hounds with huntsmen in attendance; oil on canvas, was the hotly contested work that soared up to £30,000. The work is considered to be a fine example of the artist’s carefully conceived hunting scenes. This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné on René Princeteau compiled by Louis Cuvreau and Hubert de Watrigant. 

Other sale highlights coming from the private collection of Princeteau’s works, were lot 358, Veneur pendant un débuché, selling for £13,750, lot 359, La Chasses Basque selling for £12,500 and lot 360, Piqueur Foulant selling for £11,500. In total, the collection of seven works by Princeteau sold for, £90,125. 

For further information please contact

Head of Department Marcus Grey marcusgrey@roseberys.co.uk 

Please note all the prices quoted include Buyer’s Premium of 25% 

PHILADELPHIA, PA— On Friday, June 19, Freeman’s will offer over 200 carefully selected lots in its Asian Arts auction.  Spanning centuries and countries, the sale is a compelling offering of furniture, porcelains, jades, textiles, sculpture and fine art from across the Far East, including a group of ancient Chinese bronzes from a private Main Line collection and a selection of mark and period Chinese porcelains of the Qing dynasty.

CHINESE IMPERIAL PORCELAINS

The sale includes a fine selection of elegant imperial Chinese porcelains from the 18th and 19th centuries.  The highlight is a rare and refined blue and white-decorated porcelain lobed bowl, Qianlong mark, and period (Lot 58, $30,000-50,000).  When acquired by the present owner in 2011, only one other known example, with a yellow enamel ground, was noted.

BUDDHAS AND BODHISATTVAS FROM JAPAN TO THE HIMALAYAS

A strong section of the sale is composed of Buddhist figural arts, including examples rarely encountered on the market.  For sheer elegance of execution, the 15th century Nepalese or Tibetan gilt copper alloy figure of a bodhisattva (Lot 31, $20,000-30,000) is unequaled among the sculptures.  With finely cast and finished details and a rich gilded surface suitably-worn by centuries of adoration, the bodhisattva is an example of the fine workmanship, likely Newari, which so influenced the exquisite gilt bronzes of the early Ming dynasty.

Of particular note is a small, gold repoussé Southeast Asian figure of a seated Buddha from the 12th-14th century (Lot 26, $10,000-15,000).  Acquired by the husband of the present owner from noted New York dealer Doris Wiener, the Buddha is a rare survivor in precious metal, with a lively expression and large presence belying its 2 ¼ inch height.  It is joined in the sale by a number of additional Chinese, Japanese, and Burmese figures of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, which differ in size and are made of varying elements including wood, sandstone, copper, and bronze.

This piece is joined by a small group of monochrome red bowls and dishes (Lots 59-62) given to the present owner’s mother by her longtime friend, Joseph Paul Gardner — an architect and dancer who served as one of the Monuments Men in World War II and as first Director (1933-1953) of what is now the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO.

Lot 189: A rare and impressive Japanese patinated bronze censer and cover with original wood stand, Miyao.

Meiji period, late 19th century.

Estimate $25,000 – $35,000

JAPANESE PAINTING AND CALLIGRAPHY FROM THE COLLECTION OF BETTY BORMAN, LOS ANGELES

California collector Betty Borman assembled a fine group of Japanese ink paintings and calligraphy, including works by some of the most noted artists of their time.  Of particular note is the grandly-scaled “Waterfall” by Tani Buncho (1763-1840) (Lot 194, $6,000-8,000), which may be the artist’s largest extant work, and a six-panel folding screen, “Dragon Vanishing into Clouds,” by famed lacquer artist Shibata Zeshin (1807-1891) (Lot 195, $10,000-15,000).

AUCTION

June 19 | 10am

HEAD OF SALE

Ben Farina, bfarina@freemansauction.com

PRESS INQUIRIES

Madeline Hill, mhill@freemansauction.com

PHILADELPHIA, PA—Freeman’s is delighted to announce the results of its highly successful Modern & Contemporary Art Auction—their first online fine art sale of 2020. With an impressive sell-through rate of 95%, the 58-lot sale achieved over $1 million, just shy of its pre-sale high estimate. Strong prices were achieved for Latin American, English, and iconic American Pop artists. With many consignments from private New York collectors, the auction included notable works by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Diego Rivera, and Andy Warhol.

“We were delighted to see that the market remains competitive for top works by blue-chip artists, and to achieve an enviable sell-through rate in our first online fine art sale,” said Dunham Townend, Head of Freeman’s Modern & Contemporary Art Department. With this most recent success, Freeman’s raises its average sell-through rate for its 2020 fine auctions to 93.5%.

SECOND HIGHEST PRICE ACHIEVED AT AUCTION FOR “CHANEL” BY ANDY WARHOL

The sale was led by Chanel, an iconic print from Andy Warhol’s, Ads series, which sold for $175,000—nearly the high end of its pre-sale estimate. This price is the second-highest ever fetched at auction for this important screenprint.  Robust pre-sale interest and spirited bidding from the East and West Coasts, as well as from Europe, culminated in one of the highest auction prices ever achieved for this iconic Pop image.

ROBUST PRICES ACHIEVED FOR BRITISH MODERNISTS

Skoob Assemblage by British Modernist John Latham was a runaway success.  Bidders from the United Kingdom, Europe, and America competed vigorously for this fresh-to-market assemblage by one of England’s most celebrated Conceptual artists. The work more than quintupled its pre-sale low estimate, realizing $27,500.

Similar-spirited bidding drove Lynn Chadwick’s Pair of Cloaked Figures to sell for $43,750. This quintessential example by the revered British sculptor had been in a private New York collection since 1978.

These robust results continue Freeman’s long-established history of success with Modern British artists including William Scott, Henry Moore, and John Hoyland.

Lot 2: Soldat Marocain et Hamido, Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954)

Sold for: $18,750 (buyer’s premium included)

WORKS BY PICASSO, RIVERA, KATZ, RODRIGUE & MATISSE EXCEED EXPECTATIONS

Strong prices were also achieved for works by many other internationally renowned and sought after artists. Other notable results include $46,875 for Pablo Picasso’s Face with Black Nose and Alex Katz’s Yellow Road; $32,500 for Diego Rivera’s Seated Woman; $25,000 for George Rodrigue’s Blue Over You; and $18,750 for Henri Matisse’s Soldat Marocain et Hamido.

HEAD OF SALE

Dunham Townend  dtownend@freemansauction.com

PRESS INQUIRIES

Madeline Hill, mhill@freemansauction.com