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19th Century European At Sotheby’s

December 16, 2019
Harald Sohlberg's Modne Jorder (Ripe Fields)

Harald Sohlberg’s Modne Jorder (Ripe Fields)

December 11, Sotheby’s offered up a small sale of 19th-century European paintings.  As we have seen in the past, sometimes the difference between success and failure comes down to a few fresh-to-the-market works.

Akseli Gallen-Kallela's Lake Ruovesi in Winter

Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s Lake Ruovesi in Winter

Taking the lead here was Norwegian artist Harald Sohlberg’s Modne Jorder (Ripe Fields) which had been in the same family’s collection since the 1950s.  The painting carried a £1-1.5M estimate and sold (with the buyer’s premium – w/p) for £2.36M.  Coming in a distant second was Finnish artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s Lake Ruovesi in Winter at £350K (est. £60-80K) … this work has also been in the same family’s collection since it was originally purchased from the artist circa 1916.  Close behind was Gérôme’s Femmes au bain that brought £325K w/p on a £400-600K estimate — so it fell short.

Gérôme's Femmes au bain

Gérôme’s Femmes au bain

Rounding out the top five were Zandomeneghi’s Fille attachant un ruban at £225K w/p (est. £60-80K — this work had not been on the market since 1900 – very fresh), and then we had a tie at £213K w/p – Giulio Rosati’s The Favourite (est. £100-150K) and Gaetano Previati’s The Kiss (est. £100-150K – last on the market in 1990). On the other side, there was just one big miss – Gérôme’s Jeune fille du Caire (est. £500-700K).

There were 47 works offered, 31 sold (66%), and the total take was £4.94M w/p … the low end of their presale estimate range was £3.52M (which does not include the buyer’s premium). Of the 47 works, 10 sold below, 14 within, 7 above their estimate range … plus 16 failed to find buyers.  This left them with an accuracy rate of 29.8%, which is better than most.

 

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