Why to pay a huge amount of money for a minor piece by an old master when you can buy a masterpiece from an emerging artist?

This view depicts a mill that belonged to Constable’s father, the sluice and lock gate on the river Stour, and the tower of Dedham church. It is based on an oil sketch, one of several versions of the composition. As reported by its caption at the Victoria&Albert Museum, this canvas is probably identical with a painting that sold in 1838 for £45 3s.

 

The next work by the RA painter that will go under the hammer (20 November, Christie’s) is a less valuable pencil and gray wash on paper, inscribed and dated “July 13 1800./ Afternoon” (lower right), probably owned by painter Charles Robert Leslie, Constable’s good friend and biographer. Christie’s estimates the piece £250.000-350.000.

 

So the question is: why to pay a huge amount of money for a minor paper by an old master when you can buy a masterpiece from an emerging artist? Of course because contemporary art is a risky business and probably you will have to invest more than £45 and spend a lot of working time to pick up a real talent among the thousands of names that flourish every new season. Or you have to be an artist, too.

July 15, 2015