Saint Jerome reading in an Italian landscape by Rembrandt van Rijn
At the end of the auction marathon on Thursday, December 7th, was another installment from the Sam Josefowitz Collection. The sale in London consisted of sixty-nine lots, all “graphic masterpieces” by the Dutch Golden Age artist Rembrandt van Rijn. Every lot was an etching, engraving, or drypoint. The previous Christie's sales of the Sam Josefowitz collection, the first of which was on October 13th, did phenomenally well. And the Rembrandt prints certainly followed that trend. Saint Jerome reading in an Italian landscape was predicted to be the sale's top lot. However, very few people would’ve expected how well it did. Rembrandt created the work around 1653 using etching and drypoint. Like many of the prints, this one is from the very rare first state of the work. The print was last sold at Christie’s New York in 1983 for $165K hammer after previously belonging to the Grolier Club, the prestigious Manhattan bibliophile society. Estimated to sell for between £500K and £700K, Saint Jerome continued to climb up and up until it finally settled at £1.25 million / $1.57 million (or £1.55 million / $1.95 million w/p).
The Shell by Rembrandt van Rijn
The very last lot in the sale was the 1650 print simply called The Shell. Made from etching, engraving, and drypoint, it is the only still-life etching Rembrandt ever created, making it one of the rarest works by the Dutch master. This particular shell is a conus marmoreus, or a marbled cone, only found in the Indian Ocean and parts of the Pacific. Shells like these were incredibly rare and typically kept in private collections belonging to wealthy individuals or nobility. Christie’s predicted it would sell for no more than £120K. However, bid after bid prolonged the end of the sale, driving the price all the way up to nearly five times that amount at £580K / $730.1K (or £730.8K / $919.9K w/p). Shortly before The Shell came across the block, there was the print Woman Sitting Half Dressed Beside a Stove. Made in 1658 from etching, engraving, and drypoint, it is one of the four nudes and erotic scenes featured in the sale. It was last sold at auction at Christie’s London in 1992 for £55K hammer. It is fascinating because it's less of a nude and more of a combination of styles. Yes, there is nudity, but the subject is not fully undressed. There are also elements of a simple interior or a genre painting. It is the largest nude print Rembrandt created in his series between 1658 and 1661. Woman Sitting Half Dressed Beside a Stove was only expected to sell for between £120K and £180K. It achieved more than double that at £400K / $503.5K (or £504K / $634.4K w/p).
Woman Sitting Half Dressed Beside a Stove by Rembrandt van Rijn
The Sam Josefowitz collection of Rembrandt’s graphic works is one of the most memorable sales from the past few months. While normally there might be a small handful of surprises throughout a sale, the lots that hit at least double their high estimates comprised almost a quarter of the works that crossed the block on Thursday, or sixteen of the sixty-nine lots. The most astounding surprises that day, however, included a shocking etching Rembrandt created in 1631, when he was just 25 years old, titled A Woman Making Water. I don’t know if showing a woman crouched in the middle of urination has artistic merit or if this was just the last pang of his juvenile immaturity manifesting itself in his work. Expected to sell for no more than £8K, A Woman Making Water achieved over five times that, bringing in £42K / $52.9K (or £52.9K / 66.6K w/p). Then, for a drastic change of subject, there’s the etching and drypoint Death appearing to a Wedded Couple from an Open Grave. The print, created in 1639, is clearly an example of memento mori or danse macabre, particularly lighthearted reminders of death common in areas affected by plagues and other pandemics. Around this time, northern Italy had just recovered from several years of plague, so it was likely fresh on everyone’s mind. Also assigned an £8K high estimate by Christie's, Death appearing to a Wedded Couple sold for £35K / $44.1K (or £44.1K / $55.5K w/p), or almost four-and-a-half times as much.
Ultimately, the Josefowitz collection of Rembrandt graphic works was an incredible sale. Fifty-one of the sixty-nine available lots exceeded their estimates, about 74%. Another ten lots (14%) sold within their estimates, while eight (12%) sold below. No lots went unsold. Subsequently, the sale also exceeded the presale total estimates. Christie’s predicted the sale would bring in anywhere between £3.14 million and £4.68 million. With so many lots sold over estimate, it ultimately made £6.3 million / $7.9 million.
Christie’s London Josefowitz Rembrandt Collection
Saint Jerome reading in an Italian landscape by Rembrandt van Rijn
At the end of the auction marathon on Thursday, December 7th, was another installment from the Sam Josefowitz Collection. The sale in London consisted of sixty-nine lots, all “graphic masterpieces” by the Dutch Golden Age artist Rembrandt van Rijn. Every lot was an etching, engraving, or drypoint. The previous Christie's sales of the Sam Josefowitz collection, the first of which was on October 13th, did phenomenally well. And the Rembrandt prints certainly followed that trend. Saint Jerome reading in an Italian landscape was predicted to be the sale's top lot. However, very few people would’ve expected how well it did. Rembrandt created the work around 1653 using etching and drypoint. Like many of the prints, this one is from the very rare first state of the work. The print was last sold at Christie’s New York in 1983 for $165K hammer after previously belonging to the Grolier Club, the prestigious Manhattan bibliophile society. Estimated to sell for between £500K and £700K, Saint Jerome continued to climb up and up until it finally settled at £1.25 million / $1.57 million (or £1.55 million / $1.95 million w/p).
The Shell by Rembrandt van Rijn
The very last lot in the sale was the 1650 print simply called The Shell. Made from etching, engraving, and drypoint, it is the only still-life etching Rembrandt ever created, making it one of the rarest works by the Dutch master. This particular shell is a conus marmoreus, or a marbled cone, only found in the Indian Ocean and parts of the Pacific. Shells like these were incredibly rare and typically kept in private collections belonging to wealthy individuals or nobility. Christie’s predicted it would sell for no more than £120K. However, bid after bid prolonged the end of the sale, driving the price all the way up to nearly five times that amount at £580K / $730.1K (or £730.8K / $919.9K w/p). Shortly before The Shell came across the block, there was the print Woman Sitting Half Dressed Beside a Stove. Made in 1658 from etching, engraving, and drypoint, it is one of the four nudes and erotic scenes featured in the sale. It was last sold at auction at Christie’s London in 1992 for £55K hammer. It is fascinating because it's less of a nude and more of a combination of styles. Yes, there is nudity, but the subject is not fully undressed. There are also elements of a simple interior or a genre painting. It is the largest nude print Rembrandt created in his series between 1658 and 1661. Woman Sitting Half Dressed Beside a Stove was only expected to sell for between £120K and £180K. It achieved more than double that at £400K / $503.5K (or £504K / $634.4K w/p).
Woman Sitting Half Dressed Beside a Stove by Rembrandt van Rijn
The Sam Josefowitz collection of Rembrandt’s graphic works is one of the most memorable sales from the past few months. While normally there might be a small handful of surprises throughout a sale, the lots that hit at least double their high estimates comprised almost a quarter of the works that crossed the block on Thursday, or sixteen of the sixty-nine lots. The most astounding surprises that day, however, included a shocking etching Rembrandt created in 1631, when he was just 25 years old, titled A Woman Making Water. I don’t know if showing a woman crouched in the middle of urination has artistic merit or if this was just the last pang of his juvenile immaturity manifesting itself in his work. Expected to sell for no more than £8K, A Woman Making Water achieved over five times that, bringing in £42K / $52.9K (or £52.9K / 66.6K w/p). Then, for a drastic change of subject, there’s the etching and drypoint Death appearing to a Wedded Couple from an Open Grave. The print, created in 1639, is clearly an example of memento mori or danse macabre, particularly lighthearted reminders of death common in areas affected by plagues and other pandemics. Around this time, northern Italy had just recovered from several years of plague, so it was likely fresh on everyone’s mind. Also assigned an £8K high estimate by Christie's, Death appearing to a Wedded Couple sold for £35K / $44.1K (or £44.1K / $55.5K w/p), or almost four-and-a-half times as much.
Ultimately, the Josefowitz collection of Rembrandt graphic works was an incredible sale. Fifty-one of the sixty-nine available lots exceeded their estimates, about 74%. Another ten lots (14%) sold within their estimates, while eight (12%) sold below. No lots went unsold. Subsequently, the sale also exceeded the presale total estimates. Christie’s predicted the sale would bring in anywhere between £3.14 million and £4.68 million. With so many lots sold over estimate, it ultimately made £6.3 million / $7.9 million.