On January 28 in New York, Sotheby’s kicked off Masters Week with the sale of Old Master Drawings. The offerings attracted buyers from Europe and the United States, which resulted in 157 out of 201 lots finding takers, achieving a total of $5,347,940. Jacques-Louis David’s study for The Intervention of the Sabine Women led the sale when it sold to a private collector from the United States for an impressive $401,000, more than six times its $60,000 high estimate. Henry Fuseli’s 18th century drawing The Witches Floating Above Macbeth and Banquo, a study for The Three Witches Appear before Macbeth and Banquo, set a record for a work on paper by the artist when it took in $281,000, more than tripling its $80,000 high estimate. Other highlights included works by Francesco Guardi, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, and Giovanni Francesco Barbieri.On the following day, 70.2 percent of lots on offer sold for $57,070,500 at the Master Paintings: Part I sale, with 12 pieces fetching more than $1 million. Leading the auction was Willem van de Velde the Elder’s Dutch Harbor in a Clam with Small Vessels Inshore and Beached Among Fishermen—one of the best examples of a pen and ink painting by the artist left in private hands—which garnered $5,429,000 (est. $2-3 million) and established a record price for the artist. John Constable’s 19th century oil sketch Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows sold for $5,205,000, surpassing its $2,000,000-to-$3,000,0000 estimate. Aert van der Neer’s oil Frozen River at Sunset realized $4,747,000 within its $4,000,000-to-$6,000,000 estimate, also setting a record price for the artist at auction. Later that day, the house secured buyers for 29 out of 31 lots on offer at the Selected Renaissance and Mannerist Works of Art auction assembled by Fabrizio Moretti. The highlight was Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Sigismund of Burgundy, a pair of gold ground panels by Lorenzo Veneziano, which achieved $1,325,000 (est. $600-800,000), a record price for the artist. The group of early Italian works selected by the dealer and scholar totaled $6,466,000.The 18th century terracotta sculpture Bacchante With Grapes Carried By Two Bacchantes And A Bacchant, made by Claude Michel, otherwise known as Clodion, was the leading lot at the sale of Master Paintings & Sculpture: Part II. The piece went for $2,853,000 (est. $600,000-1,000,000), the highest selling sculpture of the week. Overall, 118 out of 189 lots on offer found takers for a total of $10,299,379.Across four sales, the house established several auction records for works by Giovanni Paola Panini, Vittore Carpaccio, Antoine Coypel, Willem van de Velde, Lorenzo Veneziano, and Clodion. Collectors exhibited an appetite for fresh material ranging from the 13th to 19th century, which led to 15 lots selling for more than $1 million. As stated in the press release, “in a market driven by ever better-informed buyers, many of whom are increasingly collecting across categories, the universal appeal and timeless beauty of these masterpieces have never had a more global and stronger resonance”, said George Wachter, Co-Chairman of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Department Worldwide. Overall, the house achieved a combined total of $79,255,816.—Liza M. E. Muhlfeld
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