CHRISTIE'S RESULTS: Old Masters Evening Sale - Classic Week, December 2021
Christie’s Old Masters Evening Sale
Realised
£10,390,100 / $13,777,273 / €12,187,587
Led By
Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s The Massacre of the Innocents
and
El Greco’s Portrait of a Gentleman
~ Welcoming Registered Bidders from across 19 Countries and 3 Continents ~
Establishing 2 World Auction Records
Christie’s Classic Week Sales continue, presenting art from
antiquity to the 21st century across a total of five live and four online sales
London – Launching Christie’s winter edit of Classic Week in London, the Old Masters Evening Sale realised £10,390,100 / $13,777,273 / €12,187,587, selling 72% lot and 63% by value, with 46 lots offered and 33 lots sold. Leading the sale was Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s poignant interpretation of The Massacre of the Innocents, one of his most recognisable and celebrated subjects which achieved £2,422,500 / $3,212,235 / €2,841,593 (estimate: £1,000,000-1,500,000). El Greco’s Portrait of a Gentleman, 1570, one of the earliest surviving portraits by the artist and one of the last to remain in private hands, led three restituted works from the Priester Collection, achieving £1,222,500 / $1,621,035 / €1,433,993 (estimate: £800,000-1,200,000).
Henry Pettifer, Head of Old Master Pictures London: “Following the success of our last Old Masters sale in July, which was the strongest result achieved in 5 years, tonight we presented another selection of rare and important works in the Old Master category. These included most notably the three pictures restituted to the heirs to the Priester Collection, led by the imposing early portrait by El Greco. The two pictures from the Distinguished European Collection ‘The Eclectic Eye’ were both sold, including a very strong result for The Massacre of the Innocents by Pieter Brueghel the Younger which achieved £2,422,500.”
Artist Records:
Lot 34
Andrea de Leone (Naples 1596-After 1677)
Bacchanal
oil on canvas
39 x 51 in. (99.2 x 129.3 cm.)
Price Realised: £500,000/ $663,000/ €586,500
WORLD AUCTION RECORD FOR THE ARTIST
Lot 16
Pieter Snayers (Antwerp 1592-1667 Brussels)
The Siege of Diksmuide; and The Siege of Armentières with a rainbow
oil on canvas
41 1⁄8 x 53 1⁄2 in. (104.5 x 136 cm.)
(2) a pair
Price Realised: £175,000/ $232,050/ €205,275
WORLD AUCTION RECORD FOR THE ARTIST
To view the full sale results please click here.
For post-sale comment footage with Henry Pettifer, Head of Old Master Pictures London and Old Masters Specialist and Auctioneer Olivia Ghosh please click here.
For a dropbox to images please click here.
The Classic Week auctions continue until 16 December, with four remaining live sales and four online sales. This marquee week, which spans antiquity to the 21st century, presents rare opportunities for new and established collectors across price levels.
