Update: Adriane Coorte Still Life Paintings Sold

Back on September 21st I posted on the recent discovery and upcoming sale of two still life Old Master paintings by Adriaen Coorte.  The two paintings were discovered in an old family cupboard and brought to Sotheby's Amsterdam for inspection and sale (to read the original post, click HERE). 

The two paintings were estimated in the catalog at approximately $150,000.00 to $225,000.00.  The first Coorte hammered down at $2.28 million.  The second still life, and the next lot in the sale hammered down at $2.36 million.  The first sale broke the record price for Coorte, while the second painting broke the record just established minutes earlier. the $2.36 million also was the highest price paid for a painting sold in the Netherlands at auction during 2009. The two paintings were said to have been sold to the same European collector.

George Gordon, Co-Chairman of Old Master Paintings, Sotheby’s Worldwide and also the auctioneer for the sale, said:

“It has been a real pleasure to bring these two paintings to auction and to sell them so successfully in their homeland. With the remarkable results we achieved for the Coortes today, Sotheby’s holds the three top prices for any works of art sold in The Netherlands and continues its long-established practice of selling high value Old Masters in The Netherlands. Works by Adriaen Coorte have a sheer simplicity that is markedly different to the opulence and profusion of so many other artists who were active in the Northern Netherlands in the 17th century. There is nothing else quite like them in Dutch art.”