Old Master Drawings Auction - FineArtConnoisseur.com
François Boucher (Paris 1703-1770), “A Nude Woman Playing a Flute, Seen from Behind,” black, red, and white chalk with pastel on blue paper, 9 ½ x 14 in. (24 x 36 cm). Estimate: $20,000-30,000, Image credit: Christie’s Images Ltd. 2019

January 28, 2020, auction at Christie’s (New York): Old Master & British Drawings Including Works from the Collection of Jean Bonna

This sale of Old Master & British Drawings offers a wide variety of works on paper covering over five hundred years of design and European creativity from around 1480 to the mid-19th century. Featured collections include properties from Jean Bonna, Terry Allen Kramer, James and Marilynn Alsdorf, Luisa Vertova Nicolson, Brooke Astor, Michael Hall, and Eric Stanley.

Amongst the highlights from the Italian section are masterpieces of the High Renaissance by Perugino, Luca Signorelli, Parmigianino, and exceptional Baroque drawings by Annibale Carracci, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and Elisabetta Sirani.

Old Master Drawings Auction - FineArtConnoisseur.com
Elisabetta Sirani (Bologna 1638-1665), “Self-portrait,” black and red chalk, 9 x 6 ⅛ in. (22.9 x 15.5 cm). Estimate $5,000-$7,000, Image credit: Christie’s Images Ltd. 2019

Two great Venetian artists are featured with two top lots: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s rare “Three Studies of a Donkey” from the collection of the late Brooke Astor, and Canaletto’s exceptionally large “View of Warwick Castle.”

Old Master Drawings Auction - FineArtConnoisseur.com
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Venice 1696-1770 Madrid), “Three Studies of a Donkey,” red and white chalk, 12 ¼ x 18 ¾ in. (31 x 47.6 cm). Estimate: $250,000-350,000, Image credit: Christie’s Images Ltd. 2019

A group of drawings from the Collections of Michael Hall attests the enduring legacy of Rembrandt as a draftsman, while Boucher and Tiepolo are the highlights of the Chicago-based Alsdorf Collection.

Masterworks by Ingres, Géricault, and Bouguereau are the highlights of the French section, while the sale concludes with four exceptional watercolors by Turner, covering the entire arc of the great British artist’s career.

A very substantial sale of 129 lots, the auction presents an opportunity to acquire some of the most celebrated and dramatic images of western art, with estimates ranging from $2,000 to $800,000.

Old Master Drawings Auction - FineArtConnoisseur.com
Girolamo Francesco Mazzola, Il Parmigianino (Parma 1503-1540 Casalmaggiore), “Daniel in the Lions’ Den,” red chalk, 3 ½ x 5 ⅞ in. (9 x 15 cm). Estimate: $60,000-80,000, Image credit: Christie’s Images Ltd. 2019
Old Master Drawings Auction - FineArtConnoisseur.com
Pietro Di Cristoforo Vannucci, called Perugino (Città Della Pieve circa 1450-1523 Fontignano), “Head of an Apostle,” metalpoint (silver?) heightened with white on gray prepared paper, 9 ½ x 7 9/10 in. (24.10 x 20 cm). Estimate: $200,000-300,000, Image credit: Christie’s Images Ltd. 2019

For more information, visit Christie’s online.


> Sign up to receive Fine Art Today, our free weekly e-newsletter

> And click here to subscribe to Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, so you never miss an issue


LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here