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As the world’s stock markets plunge Rubens’ "Massacre of the Innocents" drives the art market through the roof [07/16/2002]
On Wednesday 10 July
2002, "The Massacre of the Innocents" by Peter Paul RUBENS became the most expensive old master painting
ever sold at auction. It was only recently identified
as a Rubens having previously been attributed to the
lesser-known Jan van den Hoecke. Once the painting’s
authorship was clarified a record price was clearly
on the cards, particularly as Peter Paul RUBENS ’ index has been
in stunning form lately: +540% since 1997.
This oil-on-panel work
was offered at auction with an estimated price of GBP4-6m.
But the atmosphere in the New Bond Street auction rooms
was electric and the hammer finally came down on a price
of GBP45m. Peter Paul RUBENS can now claim the second-highest price
ever paid at auction for an artwork.
The anonymous buyer
also paid the highest price ever in the UK. For years,
the US has had a virtual monopoly on records. For the
last 12 years, the only place to sell an exceptional
Van Gogh (Vincent VAN GOGH ), Renoir (Auguste RENOIR ) or Cézanne (Paul CÉZANNE ) has been New York. This
outstanding auction confirms the trend towards holding
prestigious sales in Europe. In the first auction season
of 2002, nearly 46% of the world’s million-Euro plus
sales took place in the UK, compared to 35% in 2001.
The rise in value also
underlines investors’ growing enthusiasm for old masters,
whose hammer prices have been spiralling upward for
some years. That said, while occasional sales have grabbed
the headlines with exceptional prices, at other Sotheby’s
and Christie’s sales in London old masters with a good
chance of a record have fallen flat on the auction floor.
Among the biggest disappointments were four exceptional
works which failed to find a buyer: a REMBRANDT VAN RIJN portrait
(estimate GBP10-15m), a Antonio Canal CANALETTO view of Rome (estimate
GBP2.5-3.5m), another by Bernardo BELLOTTO (estimate
GBP1.5-2m) and a view of Nijmegen by Van Goyen (A. VAN GOYEN ) (estimate
GBP0.7-1m).
That Wednesday, though,
the sound of Sotheby’s hammer in London reverberated
through the whole art market.
|
TOP 10 Auction Records for Painting (copyright
© Artprice)
Hammer Price
in Euros |
Hammer Price
in Local Currency |
Artist |
Title |
Date |
Place |
Auction House |
|
72,364,880,
|
USD 75,000,000
|
Vincent VAN GOGH
|
Portrait du Docteur Gachet
(1890)
|
15-may-90
|
New-York
|
Christie's
|
|
70,159,500
|
GBP 45,000,000
|
Peter Paul RUBENS
|
The Massacre of the Innocents
(1609-1611)
|
10-july-02
|
London
|
Sotheby's
|
|
68,505,420
|
USD 71,000,000
|
Auguste RENOIR
|
Au Moulin de la Galette
(1876)
|
17-may-90
|
New-York
|
Sotheby's
|
|
58,014,480
|
USD 50,000,000
|
Pablo PICASSO
|
Femme aux bras croisés
(1901-1902)
|
08-nov-00
|
New-York
|
Christie's
|
|
55,482,520
|
USD 65,000,000
|
Vincent VAN GOGH
|
Portrait de l'artiste sans
barbe
(1889)
|
19-nov-98
|
New-York
|
Christie's
|
|
52,064,770
|
USD 55,000,000
|
Paul CÉZANNE
|
Rideau, cruchon et compotier
(c1893-1894)
|
10-may-99
|
New-York
|
Sotheby's
|
|
45,734,700
|
FR 300,000,000
|
Pablo PICASSO
|
Les noces de Pierrette
(1905)
|
30-nov-89
|
Paris
|
Binoche-Godeau
|
|
43,272,120
|
USD 45,000,000
|
Pablo PICASSO
|
Femme assise dans un jardin
(1932)
|
10-nov-99
|
New-York
|
Sotheby's
|
|
39,425,710
|
USD 41,000,000
|
Pablo PICASSO
|
Nu au fauteuil noir
(1932)
|
09-nov-99
|
New-York
|
Christie's
|
|
|
