Souren Melikian
The perverse effects of the recession are hitting the market for Old Master paintings in a big way. Not that buyers are pulling out; it is the art owners who are reluctant to part with their pictures. The offerings were exceptionally meager in the two main sales this week. Christie?s had only 36 lots in its last Tuesday evening session and Sotheby?s had 38 on last Wednesday evening.
Christie?s, which secured a number of pictures long out of the market, came out the winner. The 26 paintings that found takers added up to ?24.13 million, or $37.68 million, while the same number of lots realised ?20.07 million at Sotheby?s. Given the goods, Christie?s scored brilliantly.
The first of five world auction records was set with a marine by Willem van de Velde the Younger. Dutch Men-o? War and Other Shipping in a Calm was last seen at auction at Phillips London, on June 1, 1822, when it was bought by Abraham Wildey Robarts. The famous collector?s name coins gold whenever it is attached to a picture. Like virtually all his paintings, the Van de Velde Jr is in mint condition, with its glazes intact. This is a major consideration in the making of a price, particularly in the case of the Dutch artist?s marines. The Van de Velde sold for ?5.91 million, double its high estimate.
Within 10 minutes, another world record was set with the portrait of an old man painted in 1646 by Govaert Flinck, one of Rembrandt?s most important pupils. Flinck came nowhere near Rembrand, but the provenance of the portrait, which hung at one time in the Hermitage Palace, gave it an irresistible glamour. It soared to ?3.22 million, again doubling the high estimate.
While the admirable Van de Velde and the rare Flinck would have performed well at any time, three other world records said more about the bullishness of buyers in a market starved of supplies. In the days of abundance, Pieter Brueghel the Younger?s vast allegory The Battle Between Carnival and Lent would not have aroused wild enthusiasm. No fewer than five versions of the subject have been recorded, of which three are from the painter?s own hand. These are not even original but are interpretations of Pieter Brueghel the Elder?s composition. On December 7, 2006, The Battle Between Carnival and Lent cost ?3.26 million at Christie?s. It rose to ?6.87 million. The easy, large Brueghelian image appeals to a new generation of bidders loath to spend much time parsing the subtleties of great masters, whether in compositional inventiveness or the brilliance of brushwork.
Market history helped the minor Ravenna painter Francesco Zaganelli da Cotignola climb to unimaginable heights. His Holy Family, done in the early 16th century, was exported from Northern Italy while controlled by Austria from 1815 to 1866, as shown by a seal with the Habsburg arms. The Holy Family ended up at a world record ?1.02 million, multiplying more than six times the highest expectations.
Yet another record price greeted the portrait of a European partly dressed up as a Syrian merchant painted by Andrea Soldi in 1733. Featured in a 2008 show at Tate Britain, Traders in the Levant: Andrea Soldi and the English Merchants of Aleppo, the Soldi fetched a breathtaking ?825,250 again, a minor work by a petit-maitre multiplied the high estimate six-fold.
Had there not been so many unimportant works with huge estimates, the proportion of failures at Christie?s would not have been as high as 28%. The overestimation reflected the ambitions of vendors and, above all, the inability or unwillingness of auction houses to oppose their greediness for fear of losing consignments.
It was left to Sotheby?s to reveal the full impact of the recession on the Old Masters market. The auction house seems to have experienced even greater difficulty than Christie?s in garnering substantial works fresh to the market. It did as well as is conceivable given what it had to offer.
It is a dangerous game at which Christie?s and Sotheby?s take turns. If the drying up of supplies continues, auction houses will anyway have to hold only one major sale a year, not two. And that might altogether signal the end of the auction market in this field, because for auctions to attract bidders, a certain pace is indispensable. Otherwise, interest just withers away.