________________________________
Londra, 6 dicembre 2011
La Evening Sale di Christie’s “Old Master and British Paintings” ha realizzato £24,132,100 ($37,646,076 / €28,162,161). Il top price della vendita è stato “The Battle between Carnival and Lent” di Pieter Brueghel II (1564/5-1637/8) che ha realizzato £6,873,250 ($10,722,270 / €8,021,083), un nuovo record mondiale per l’artista all’asta (stima: £3.5 – £4.5 milioni).
Richard Knight, International co-Head of Old Masters and 19th Century Art at Christie’s and Paul Raison, Head of Old Masters and 19th Century Art at Christie’s London: “We carefully assembled this evening’s auction to offer a select number of works that would appeal to collectors. The sale realised strong prices overall, with a number of record prices, including for Pieter Breughel the Younger, Willem van de Velde II and Govaert Flinck, all of which sold far above their pre-sale estimates. A diverse group of bidders this evening included many new clients with most interestingly, a significant number from Asia. Pictures with strong presence performed particularly well, and there is a continuing premium on paintings which offer quality, condition, rarity and provenance. It was exciting to see one of the most valuable lots of the evening, the interior scene by van Ostade, sold to a bidder on the internet.”
| Lot | Description | Estimate (£) | Purchase Price |
| 17 | Pieter Brueghel II (Brussels 1564/5-1637/8 Antwerp), The Battle between Carnival and Lent WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION |
3,500,000 – 4,500,000 | £6,873,250 $10,722,270 €8,021,083 |
| 9 | Willem van de Velde II (Leiden 1633-1707 London), Dutch men-o’-war and other shipping in a calm WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION |
1,500,000 – 2,500,000 | £5,921,250 $9,237,150 €6,910,099 |
| 13 | Govaert Flinck (Cleves 1615-1660 Amsterdam), An old man at a casement WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION |
700,000 – 1,000,000 | £2,337,250 $3,646,110 €2,727,571 |
| 36 | Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. (Sudbury, Suffolk 1727-1788 London), Portrait of Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl of Chesterfield (1755-1815), full-length, in a scarlet coat and buff breeches, holding a black hat and stick in his left hand, with his dog in a landscape | 2,500,000 – 3,500,000 | £2,169,250 $3,384,030 €2,531,515 |
| 22 | Francesco Zaganelli da Cotignola (Cotignola, near Ravenna 1470/80-1532 Ravenna), The Holy Family WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION |
100,000 – 150,000 | £1,015,650 $1,584,414 €1,185,264 |
| 8 | Adriaen Jansz. van Ostade (Haarlem 1610-1685), A lawyer seated at a table reading a letter | 500,000 – 700,000 | £825,250 $1,287,390 €963,067 |
| 28 | Andrea Soldi (Florence c. 1703-1771 London), Portrait of a gentleman, possibly Richard Salwey, half-length, in a fur-trimmed red coat and a turban,leaning on a plinth WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION |
80,000 – 120,000 | £825,250$1,287,390 €963,067 |
| 15 | Pieter Brueghel II (Brussels 1564/5-1637/8 Antwerp), The King Drinks | 250,000 – 350,000 | £541,250 $844,350 €631,639 |
| 4 | Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577-1640 Antwerp), Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor of the German Nation, a modello for a statue | 200,000 – 300,000 | £445,250 $694,590 €519,607 |
| 2 | Workshop of Albrecht Bouts (Leuven 1451/60-1549), Christ as the Man of Sorrows | 60,000 – 80,000 | £385,250 $600,990 €449,587 |
