Sotheby’s Masters Week in NY beyond expectation, also thanks to an Italian dealer and philantropist

Sotheby’s annual Masters Week sales in New York has been a success, even greater than what we expected. The four auctions which took place last week achieved the impressive total of $79,255,816 with 15 lots sold for more than $1 million. Auction records were set for artists such as Giovanni Paolo Panini, Vittore Carpaccio, Antoine Coypel, Willem van de Velde, Clodion, and Lorenzo Veneziano. This latter was sold within the “Selected Renaissance and Mannerist Works of Art Assembled by Fabrizio Moretti”, reaching $1.3 million, above its pre-sale estimate of $600/800,000. In this auction, all but two lots found buyers.

 

As reported by a Sotheby’s press release a few hours ago, George Wachter, Co-Chairman of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Department Worldwide argued that “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.”

 

With regards to Moretti’s auction, Christopher Apostle, Head of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings, continued “We were particularly pleased by the success of our collaboration with Fabrizio Moretti.  With a total above the high estimate and nearly 94% of all lots sold, the enthusiasm for Renaissance and Mannerist works was felt acutely this afternoon. We were delighted to have been able to help raise funds for causes dear to Fabrizio’s heart – The Fabrizio Moretti Foundation, which works to give those with certain disabilities access to the therapeutic benefits of horses, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where funds will be dedicated to the study and conservation of Italian Old Master Paintings.”

 

It may still be premature to claim that the trend is diverting, even after such a success, yet these results are the proof of a significant shift in the taste of our time. It is a matter of fact that Old Masters’ is now offering to collectors new opportunities, both from a cultural and a financial perspective. The numbers that contemporary arts manages to achieve are still far away, nevertheless it can be said that new eyes, which are no longer just the ones of institutions, are looking at the past. The increasing availability of information at any level is probably allowing collectors to cross the epochs, thus approaching both fine and contemporary art with the same confidence.

February 2, 2015