Old Masters Tercentenary Auction on 16th October 2007

Hendricksz. de Keyser

Studio of Canaletto

Antonio Carracci

Antonio Bellucci

Annibale Carracci

The Old Masters Auction on 16th October 2007 signals the start of this year's third round of tercentenary auctions celebrating the 300th anniversary of the foundation of the Dorotheum, the world's oldest existing auction house. Dr. Peter Wolf, with the assistance of the Dorotheum representations in Brussels, Munich, Düsseldorf, and Milan, was able to acquire a total of 350 significant works belonging to a diversity of schools. In this endeavour he was also aided by the spectacular success of the previous tercentenary auction taking place in April and the corresponding international interest it occasioned.

A recently discovered Study of a bearded man by Anthonis van Dyck turned out to be an original 'reminiscence' of a lost painting by the artist, formerly at the Berlin Museum and as such is of particular import (valuation: 80.000 - 120.000 €).

Thomas Hendricksz. de Keyser's signature, artfully inserted into the gable of the armoire in the background, marks the famous Dutch painter's elegant full-length portrait of a Dutch merchant in his studio. The work amply demonstrates de Keyser's precise draughtsmanship and the superb clarity of his palette (80.000 - 100.000 €).

The painting Riverside Farmstead, with farmers loading a haywain by van Goyen is one of the earliest works of this artists, who would come to be regarded as the founder of modern Dutch landscape painting. His completely original, novel, and distinctive style of abstract tonal painting expressed itself in  landscapes of highly economical composition, a new approach very evident in the painting at hand (”Gehöft an einem Fluss mit Bauern beim Beladen eines Heuwagens”, 50.000 - 70.000 €).

Attribute to Frans Verbeeck, an Allegory of human follies continues the tradition of Brueghel the Elder. This painting from a Belgian private collection is valued at € 65.000 - 75.000 („Die Allegorie menschlicher Thorheiten“). The brothers Valckenborch's preference for detailed and many-figured scenes comes across quite clearly in  Gillis van Valckenborch's large-format The Sea gods with Amphitrite. The painting will be included in a planned monograph by Dr. Wied, author of a monograph on the brothers Gillis and Frederik van Valckenborch („Die Meeresgötter mit der Amphitrite“, 25.000 - 35.000 €).

Carrying us off to southern climes, Viviano Codazzi offers an architectural capriccio with colonnades and a view of Mt Vesuvius. This previously unpublished piece represents an important new addition to the artist's œuvre and dates to around 1660  (60.000 - 80.000 €). Two more major names among architectural painters likewise catch our eye: Giovanni Ghisolfi with a Landscape with ruins from antiquity (36.000 – 40.000 €), and two brilliant matching paintings from the studio of Canaletto, Entrance of the Canal Grande with the Salute Church, Venice and Canal Grande viewed from Campo San Vio (80.000 – 100.000 €).             

One of the finest top lots with a provenance among the Austrian nobility will be Nicolo Bambini's Vulcan handing Venus an arrow forged by his own hand, which is more than likely to return to its place of origin, Italy, after this auction (price available upon inquiry). Meanwhile, the Lamentation of Christ, an excellent painting by Antonio Carracci, will soon be included in Emilio Negro's monograph on the artist (120.000 – 160.000 €).

A recurring theme at the Dorotheum has been the enthralling story of beautiful Lucretia who killed herself with her dagger in order to restore her honour. In 1993, Hans von Aachen's Tarquinius and Lucretia went to the collection of the "Kunsthistorisches Museum" straight from the auction room. And during the last tercentenary auction of old masters in April 2007, Guido Cagnacci's Lucretia caused a sensation when it sold for € 1,4 million, a new world record for this artist. Another promising rendition of the theme, Tarquinius and Lucretia by Antonio Bellucci, now awaits a new owner, no doubt after heavy bidding (20.000 - 30.000 €).

The auction also offers a Madonna of San Giorgio, an early work by Annibale Carracci and a smaller scale version of the famous Correggio Madonna at the "Dresden Gemäldegalerie" (50.000 – 70.000 €). Commissioned by the Portuguese Rodrigo Lopez da Sylva, Carlo Maratta, between 1661-63, created a major altar painting of the Immaculata for the Sylva Chapel at the Franciscan church Sant’Isidor Agricola in Rome. The auction now features an excellent replica of this prominent work, by the artist's own hand (36.000 - 45.000 €). Two more religious scenes come from Cornelis Saftleven, showing the Temptation of St Anthony (20.000 - 30.000 €) and from Lucas Cranach the Younger depicting Christ on the Cross  (8.000 – 12.000 €).

	Hendricksz. de Keyser
	Studio of Canaletto
	Antonio Caracci
	Antonio Bellucci
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