New Jersey family learns they own a Rembrandt
Landau brothers shocked to learn the painting sitting under a ping-pong table in the basement was a priceless work of art by the Dutch master; Jamie Colby shares their story on the new season of Fox Business Network's 'Strange Inheritance.'
A Rembrandt smashed a record for one of his self-portraits at a Sotheby’s virtual auction Tuesday in London.
Helena Newman, chair of Sotheby’s Europe, said the wide range of art on sale caters to “a new generation of collectors (who) show less concern with the traditional art market categories of the past.”
“With the global art world calendar having shifted, we too have seized the opportunity to do things differently,” she said.
Sotheby’s London said some two-thirds of the works on sale have never been at auction before. Of the rest, most had been off the market for two decades.
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Sotheby’s said that the top end of the art market was “in rude health” and that its new live-streamed auction format, introduced because of the coronavirus pandemic, brought in a total of $192.7 million Tuesday.
A self-portrait by Rembrandt sold for $18.7 million at the virtual auction — a record price for a self-portrait by the Dutch master, the auctioneer’s said.
“Self portrait wearing a ruff and black hat,” from 1632 when Rembrandt was aged 26, was sought by six bidders.
In this Thursday, July 23, 2020 file photo, a Sotheby's employee adjusts a painting by Rembrandt, entitled 'Self-portrait, wearing a ruff and black hat' at Sotheby's auction rooms in London. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
The painting sold Tuesday was one of only three self-portraits by the painter to remain in private hands, and “the only one ever likely to come to auction.” It measures about 8 by 6 inches.
The sale was part of a live-streamed global auction featuring dozens of pieces of artwork spanning five centuries of art history, from Rembrandt to Picasso, and from Joan Miró to Banksy.
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The event saw staff from the auction house’s New York, London and Hong Kong offices furiously gesticulating and whispering into phones as bidders vied to outdo each other.
In this Thursday, July 23, 2020 file photo, Sotheby employees adjust a painting by Joan Miro called 'Peinture (Femme au chapeau rouge) at Sotheby's auction rooms in London. Miró’s “Peinture (Femme au chapeau rouge)” (Woman in a Red Hat) from 1927. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
The top-selling item was Miró’s “Peinture (Femme au chapeau rouge)” (Woman in a Red Hat) from 1927, which fetched $28.9 million. Sotheby’s said the painting, which came to auction for the first time since 1966, set the highest sale price in Europe so far this year.
The sale also includes a triptych by elusive street artist Banksy called “Mediterranean Sea View,” painted in 2017. Presented in elaborate traditional frames, it features seascapes dotted with orange life jackets and alludes to the lives lost at sea during the European immigration crisis. The paintings fetched almost double the top estimated price, and the proceeds are meant to raise funds for a hospital in Bethlehem.
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Five works sold for over $10 million. That included a bronze sculpture of a female figure by Alberto Giacometti, which fetched $13.8 million, doubling the estimated price.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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