Old Masters Week in London

Scott Reyburn of Bloomberg has a very good preview of the upcoming Old Masters sales at Christie's and Sotheby's as well as satellite sales at local galleries. The auction houses will be offering an estimated $136 million worth of paintings this week. I will post results as they become available. One consignor, a Johnson and Johnson heiress has 200 pieces of art in the sales. Many old master dealers and collectors believe the sales will be strong with more interest than what was recently generated at the London Contemporary, post war and modern sales.

Reyburn states The event combines selling exhibitions at 23 galleries with Sotheby’s and Christie’s International’s July sales of Old Master paintings. The auction houses will be offering more than 680 lots with a minimum estimate of 58.5 million pounds. The dealer shows, which run from July 4 to July 10, will offer works with a collective value of “at least 25 million pounds,” Sue Bond, public relations director of Master Paintings, said in a telephone interview.] Johnson, 72, is hoping for a commercial bounce-back, having put up for sale nearly 200 Renaissance-period pieces at Sotheby’s on July 8 and 9.

Reburn continues “We want to open our doors and get rid of the fusty image of Old Master galleries,” Van Haeften, one of the co-founders of Master Paintings Week, said in an interview. “People don’t realize that it’s sometimes cheaper to buy from dealers than from the salerooms. At an auction the price can only go up. In a gallery it can only come down.”

To read the full Bloomberg article, click HERE.