Pushing Old Masters

Christie's is hoping its London Old Master sale in July will bring over $30 million.  The Old Master sector is rather stable when compared to the contemporary market.  The Christie's sale will offer a Rembrandt,  “A Bust of a Man in a Gorget and Cap” (see image) with an estimate of $19 million.

Christie's is sending the group of Old Master paintings on a world promotional tour in order to raise interest and awareness.  It will be interesting to see how the sale does, especially with the concerns over the European economy.

Bloomberg reports on the sale

In recent years, Old Masters have struggled to attract new collectors. Christie’s plans to stimulate fresh interest in historic paintings by taking the single-owner collection on a promotional tour to Doha, Moscow, New York, Hong Kong and Amsterdam before its sale.

The 15 works, worth at least 19 million pounds, are owned by Pieter Dreesmann, the son of the late Anton Dreesmann, a Dutch department-store heir whose collection was auctioned by Christie’s in a series of sales in 2002 that raised 7.3 million pounds.

Pieter and Olga Dreesmann are active collectors, owning pieces ranging in date from ancient Greece and Rome to 21st- Century contemporaries. The Old Masters are up for sale because the Dreesmanns, regular buyers at the Frieze Art Fair, are “re- focusing” their interests, said Christie’s.

The group also includes the Willem van de Velde II seascape “Shipping in a Calm,” valued at 2.5 million pounds to 3.5 million pounds.

Source: Bloomberg