Portrait of Lucas Alexander Ionides by James McNeil Whistler
On Wednesday, September 25th, Bonhams hosted their sale of nineteenth-century paintings at their New Bond Street location. With ninety-seven available lots, the auction did relatively well, except for the highest-valued work disappointingly going unsold. Close to two-thirds of the lots up for grabs had a minimum estimate under £10K, making the high-value lots stand out by comparison. The auction’s top lot was a rare portrait by the American painter James McNeil Whistler. Paintings by Whistler are not often seen at auction since few of his paintings of note are in private hands. The last time a painting attributed to Whistler sold at auction was January 2023 when Howth Head, Near Dublin sold at Christie’s New York for $190K hammer. Portrait of Lucas Alexander Ionides, therefore, proved popular with bidders when it came across the block. It brought in more than double its £120K high estimate, hammering at £320K / $428.7K (or £406.8K / $544.9K w/p).
Portrait of Mademoiselle Ducter (left) and Portrait of artist’s daughter Eya (right), both by Nikolai Fechin
The Whistler was followed by two paintings by the Russian artist Nikolai Fechin. Like much of Fechin’s work, both are portraits using his characteristic style of thick impasto and a chaotic mess of brushstrokes making up the background. Portrait of Mademoiselle Ducter dates to 1925, after fifteen years of Fechin living and working in the United States. Meanwhile, Portrait of artist’s daughter Eya was likely created a few years before. Children were some of Fechin’s most prolific subjects, with his daughter Eya appearing in much of his work. Bonhams expected Mademoiselle Ducter to do particularly well, with specialists assigning the painting a £300K to £500K estimate range. While it fell slightly short of these expectations at £280K / $375.1K (or £356K / $486.9K w/p), it still wound up the sale’s second-place lot. Eya, on the other hand, hammered at the £150K low estimate ($200.9K; or £190.9K / $255.7K w/p). Eya ended up sharing the third-place spot with another painting, this one by the British landscape painter John Atkinson Grimshaw. A Golden Idyll is very typical of the artist’s work, with the predominant use of yellow hues to convey a sense of twilight in an urban or suburban setting. Sharing the third-place spot, A Golden Idyll has the highest price achieved by a Grimshaw painting since 2022, when Midsummer Night sold at Christie’s New York as part of the Getty Collection for $680.4K w/p.
A Golden Idyll by John Atkinson Grimshaw
The sale did moderately well considering the state of the nineteenth-century market. Of the ninety-seven available lots, thirty-two sold within their estimates, giving Bonhams specialists a 33% accuracy rate. Fifteen lots (15%) sold below their estimates, while seventeen (18%) sold above. The remaining thirty-three lots (34%) went unsold. The one prominent disappointment at Bonhams that day was one of the unsold works. Predicted by specialists to be at the top lot of the day, Fardeau Agréable is a large pastoral portrait of two young girls by the French Academic master William Adolphe Bouguereau. Created in 1895, the painting has spent nearly its entire life in the United States, with it being part of a number of American gallery inventories and private collections after Knoedler & Co. initially sold it not long after receiving it from Bouguereau himself. The last time it sold at auction was at Parke-Bernet in 1966. When Bonhams exhibited the painting in New York, we went to take a look. Its murky varnish makes it difficult to assess its true condition, yet Bonhams specialists gave the painting an estimate range of £800K to £1.2 million. When the time came, interest in the painting was insufficient to reach the reserve, and it wound up bought in.
Even though the Bouguereau brought down the overall amount the sale was predicted to bring in, it wouldn’t be fair to look only at the amount of money. 33% is still an impressive accuracy rate from Bonhams. Furthermore, several works sold far over their estimates, including the Whistler. The biggest surprise of the day, though, was a painting by the early twentieth-century Russian artist Alexander Alekseev. Little of the artist’s work has come to auction, yet the two paintings featured at Bonhams did remarkably well. The cityscape Capri achieved £17K / $22.8K (or £21.7K / $29.1K w/p) against a £6K high estimate, bringing in more than double what was expected. Even better, though, was A Capri Terrace. With the same estimate as the other Alekseev painting, this one proved more popular with bidders, selling for £25K / $33.5K (or £32K / $42.8K w/p), over four times its high estimate. The entire sale brought in just over £2 million / $2.7 million. Even though the pre-sale low estimate was £2.75 million, this is mainly because of the Bouguereau. Removing the Bouguereau from the sale would have brought the pre-sale minimum estimate down to £1.9 million.
Bonhams London 19th Century
Portrait of Lucas Alexander Ionides by James McNeil Whistler
On Wednesday, September 25th, Bonhams hosted their sale of nineteenth-century paintings at their New Bond Street location. With ninety-seven available lots, the auction did relatively well, except for the highest-valued work disappointingly going unsold. Close to two-thirds of the lots up for grabs had a minimum estimate under £10K, making the high-value lots stand out by comparison. The auction’s top lot was a rare portrait by the American painter James McNeil Whistler. Paintings by Whistler are not often seen at auction since few of his paintings of note are in private hands. The last time a painting attributed to Whistler sold at auction was January 2023 when Howth Head, Near Dublin sold at Christie’s New York for $190K hammer. Portrait of Lucas Alexander Ionides, therefore, proved popular with bidders when it came across the block. It brought in more than double its £120K high estimate, hammering at £320K / $428.7K (or £406.8K / $544.9K w/p).
Portrait of Mademoiselle Ducter (left) and Portrait of artist’s daughter Eya (right), both by Nikolai Fechin
The Whistler was followed by two paintings by the Russian artist Nikolai Fechin. Like much of Fechin’s work, both are portraits using his characteristic style of thick impasto and a chaotic mess of brushstrokes making up the background. Portrait of Mademoiselle Ducter dates to 1925, after fifteen years of Fechin living and working in the United States. Meanwhile, Portrait of artist’s daughter Eya was likely created a few years before. Children were some of Fechin’s most prolific subjects, with his daughter Eya appearing in much of his work. Bonhams expected Mademoiselle Ducter to do particularly well, with specialists assigning the painting a £300K to £500K estimate range. While it fell slightly short of these expectations at £280K / $375.1K (or £356K / $486.9K w/p), it still wound up the sale’s second-place lot. Eya, on the other hand, hammered at the £150K low estimate ($200.9K; or £190.9K / $255.7K w/p). Eya ended up sharing the third-place spot with another painting, this one by the British landscape painter John Atkinson Grimshaw. A Golden Idyll is very typical of the artist’s work, with the predominant use of yellow hues to convey a sense of twilight in an urban or suburban setting. Sharing the third-place spot, A Golden Idyll has the highest price achieved by a Grimshaw painting since 2022, when Midsummer Night sold at Christie’s New York as part of the Getty Collection for $680.4K w/p.
A Golden Idyll by John Atkinson Grimshaw
The sale did moderately well considering the state of the nineteenth-century market. Of the ninety-seven available lots, thirty-two sold within their estimates, giving Bonhams specialists a 33% accuracy rate. Fifteen lots (15%) sold below their estimates, while seventeen (18%) sold above. The remaining thirty-three lots (34%) went unsold. The one prominent disappointment at Bonhams that day was one of the unsold works. Predicted by specialists to be at the top lot of the day, Fardeau Agréable is a large pastoral portrait of two young girls by the French Academic master William Adolphe Bouguereau. Created in 1895, the painting has spent nearly its entire life in the United States, with it being part of a number of American gallery inventories and private collections after Knoedler & Co. initially sold it not long after receiving it from Bouguereau himself. The last time it sold at auction was at Parke-Bernet in 1966. When Bonhams exhibited the painting in New York, we went to take a look. Its murky varnish makes it difficult to assess its true condition, yet Bonhams specialists gave the painting an estimate range of £800K to £1.2 million. When the time came, interest in the painting was insufficient to reach the reserve, and it wound up bought in.
Even though the Bouguereau brought down the overall amount the sale was predicted to bring in, it wouldn’t be fair to look only at the amount of money. 33% is still an impressive accuracy rate from Bonhams. Furthermore, several works sold far over their estimates, including the Whistler. The biggest surprise of the day, though, was a painting by the early twentieth-century Russian artist Alexander Alekseev. Little of the artist’s work has come to auction, yet the two paintings featured at Bonhams did remarkably well. The cityscape Capri achieved £17K / $22.8K (or £21.7K / $29.1K w/p) against a £6K high estimate, bringing in more than double what was expected. Even better, though, was A Capri Terrace. With the same estimate as the other Alekseev painting, this one proved more popular with bidders, selling for £25K / $33.5K (or £32K / $42.8K w/p), over four times its high estimate. The entire sale brought in just over £2 million / $2.7 million. Even though the pre-sale low estimate was £2.75 million, this is mainly because of the Bouguereau. Removing the Bouguereau from the sale would have brought the pre-sale minimum estimate down to £1.9 million.