Including Property from the estate of Giancarlo Baroni
Sotheby's New York
February 1 and 2, 2013
Sale 8857
Lot 1, "The Madonna and Child Resting at a Parapet," by the Workshop of Verrocchio, tempera on panel, 24 1/8 by 17 1/2 inches
By
Carter B. Horsley
A November 29, 2012 article in The New York Times by Carol Vogel noted that "Jean-Luc Baroni and his five siblings had a problem after their father, Giancarlo Baroni, died in 2007," adding the "the three brothers are all art dealers. The three sisters are not. Giancarlo Baroni was an art dealer too, but he was also a passionate collector who bought paintings, drawings and decoartive arts for his own pleasure."
The article quoted Christopher Apostle, who runs Sotheby's old master paintings department in New York, as observing that "Not everything is important or expensive," adding that Mr. Baroni "had an eye for the chic, oftenbuying things like the gold ground paitings decades before they were in fashion."
The auction is highlighted by a wonderful and very fine Madonna and Child attributed to the Workshop of Verrocchio (1435-1488), Lot 1, a tempera on panel that measures 24 1/8 by 17 1/2 inches.
The catalogue entry notes that "a reconstruction of Verrocchio's oeuvre is particularly difficult in view of the fact that the three paintings specfically mentioned by the biographer Giorgio Vasari are all problematic from a stylistic point of view."
A November 29, 2012 article in The New York Times by Carol Vogel noted that "Jean-Luc Baroni and his five siblings had a problem after their father, Giancarlo Baroni, died in 2007," adding the "the three brothers are all art dealers. The three sisters are not. Giancarlo Baroni was an art dealer too, but he was also a passionate collector who bought paintings, drawings and decoartive arts for his own pleasure."
The article quoted Christopher Apostle, who runs Sotheby's old master paintings department in New York, as observing that "Not everything is important or expensive," adding that Mr. Baroni "had an eye for the chic, oftenbuying things like the gold ground paitings decades before they were in fashion."
The auction is highlighted by a wonderful and very fine Madonna and Child attributed to the Workshop of Verrocchio (1435-1488), Lot 1, a tempera on panel that measures 24 1/8 by 17 1/2 inches.
The catalogue entry notes that "a reconstruction of Verrocchio's oeuvre is particularly difficult in view of the fact that the three paintings specfically mentioned by the biographer Giorgio Vasari are all problematic from a stylistic point of view."
"What seems more certain is
that
there was a group of accomplished painters active in
Verrocchio's
bottega, producing painted variants of their master's designs.
In
particular, numerous devotional images of the Madonna and Child in
half- or three-quarter length exist, of which this appears to a newly
discovered example....Among the painted examples which most
directly
relate to the present work are those in the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York...as well as a work recently sold in London, Sotheby's, July
7, 2010, Lot 42."
The painting is clearly what Verrocchio's aesthetic is all about and is quite definitive and world-class.
It has a very modest estimate of $80,000 to $120,000. It sold for $842,500 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article.
About 70 percent of the 214 offered lots sold for $13,859,633.
The painting is clearly what Verrocchio's aesthetic is all about and is quite definitive and world-class.
It has a very modest estimate of $80,000 to $120,000. It sold for $842,500 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article.
About 70 percent of the 214 offered lots sold for $13,859,633.
Lot 16, "The Madonna Facing Front and Wearing a Blue Cloak," left, and Lot 15, "Mary Magdalene in a Three-Quarter View, Veiled in a White Cloth," right, both by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, oil on canvas, each 7 7/8 by 6 3/8 inches
Lot
16, "The Madonna Facing Front and Wearing a Blue Cloak," and
Lot 15, "Mary Magdalene in a Three-Quarter View, Veiled in a White
Cloth," are exquisite, rare, early and previously unpublished examples
of Giambattista Tiepolo's private devotional images," according to the
catalogue entries.
"Though clearly religious in nature, these single-figure depiction of the two Marys - the Virgina and Mary Magdalene - straddle the line between purely religious subject matter and Tiepolo's rare foray into portraiture."
The oils on canvas each measure 7 7/8 by 6 3/8 inches. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo was born in 1696 and died in 1770.
Each lot has a very modest estimate of $120,000 to $160,000. Lot 16 sold for $374,500. Lot 15 sold for $350,000.
"Though clearly religious in nature, these single-figure depiction of the two Marys - the Virgina and Mary Magdalene - straddle the line between purely religious subject matter and Tiepolo's rare foray into portraiture."
The oils on canvas each measure 7 7/8 by 6 3/8 inches. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo was born in 1696 and died in 1770.
Each lot has a very modest estimate of $120,000 to $160,000. Lot 16 sold for $374,500. Lot 15 sold for $350,000.
Lot 8, "The Madonna and Child Seated Before a Sculpted Parapet, an Apple Resting Beside Her," by Circle of Perugino, tempera on panel, 31 5/8 by 23 inches
Lot
8 is a fine tempera on panel of "The Madonna and Child Seated Before a
Sculpted Parapet, an Apple Resting Beside Her," by the Circle of Pietro
di Christoforo Vannucci, called Pietro Perugino. It measures
31 5/8 by 23 inches. It has a modest estimate of $400,000 to
$600,000. It
sold for $362,500. The catalogue notes that the
pose echoses in reverse a number of paintings by Perugino and his
circle.
Lot 7, "The Entombment of Christ," by El Greco, tempera and oil on a spruce or fir panel, 14 3/8 by 11 inches
Lot
7 is a small, good tempera and oil on a spruce or fir panel entitled
"The Entombment of Christ" that the catalogue says "Happily the current
leading authority on the works of El Greco has now had the opportunity
to study the panel first hand and has confirmed that it snautograh,
early work." It is one of four recorded versions, the first
is a panel formerly housed in the Palacio Real, Madrid, but never part
of the collection. A third panel was published in 1954 as in
the collection of the Conde Vidua de Ibarra in Seveille. A
large rversion was sold at Christie's in London March 19, 1965.
This lot has an estimate of $1,000,000 to $1,500,000.
It sold for
$902,500.
Lot 18, "An Architectural Capriccio with Figures Amongst Classical Ruins, a Temple Beyond,"left; Lot 17, "An Architectural Capriccio with Figures by a Ruined Arch," right. Both are oils on oval panel, 10 3/4 by 8 5/8 inches and are by Francesco Guardi
Lot
18, "An Architectural Capriccio with Figures Amongst Classical
Ruins, a Temple Beyond," and Lot 17, "An Architectural Capriccio with
Figures by a Ruined Arch," are lovely small oils on oval panels by
Francesco Guardi (1712-1793). The each measures 10 3/4 by 8
5/8 inches and have estimates of $100,000 to $150,000. They each sold for $146,500.
Lot 151, "Portrait of a Young Woman Looking Down, After Sir Peter Paul Rubens," French School, 19th Century, black and red chalk with stumping and touches of white heightening, 12 3/4 by 10 inches
Lot
151, "Portrait of a Young Woman Looking Down, After Sir Peter Paul
Rubens," French School, 19th Century, is a black and red chalk with
stumping
and touches of white heightening that measures 12 3/4 by 10
inches. The catalogue notes that this a copy aftger a "greatly
celebrated study within Rubens' oeuvre and is now in the Uffizi,
Florence. It has an estimate of $3,000 to $5,000. It sold for $2,813.
Lot 92, "The Flight Into Egypt," by Domenico Piola, pen and brown ink and watercolor overtraces of black chalk, 11 7/16 by 16 3/8 inches
One
of the more attractive drawings in the auction is Lot 92, "The Flight
into Egypt," by Domenico Piola (1627-1703), a pen and brown ink and
watercolor over traces of black chalk. It measures 11 7/16 by
16 3/8 inches. It has an estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. It failed to sell.
Lot 61, "Coucher de Soleil, a Pittsburgh," by Maurice Denis, oil on board, 21 1/4 by 25 5/8 inches, 1927
One
of the most expressionist and startling works in the auction is Lot 61,
"Coucher de Soleil, a Pittsburgh," by Maurice Denis (1870-1943).
An oil on board, it measures 21 1/4 by 25 5/8 inches and was
executed in 1927. It has an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000.
It sold for
$164,500.
Lot 47, "Lady in a Yellow Hat with her Dog (The Marchesa Casati)," by Giovanni Boldini, oil on canvas, 25 7/8 by 21 1/4 inches. 1931
One
of the most dashing works in the auction is Lot 47, "Lady in a Yellow
Hat with her Dog (The Marchesa Casati), by Giovanni Boldini
(1842-1931). The oil on canvas measures 25 7/8 by 21 3/4
inches and was painted in 1931. MarchesaLuisa
Casati was a muse to many artists, according to the catalogue, and was
painted by Augustus Johns, Kees van Dongen and Jacob Epstein.
The catalogue notes that the artist met her when her
seven-meter pearl necklade was scattered over a restaurant floor."
The catalogue says more than a 100 portraits of her exist,
certainly an excuse for someone to make a movie about her.
The off-center composition is quite impressive and the dog
looks contently at the viewer. The lot has an estimate of
$200,000 to $300,000. It
sold for $866,500.
See The City Review article on Renaissance auction at Christie's New York Winter 2013
See The City Review article on Old Masters auction at Sotheby's New York Winter 2013
See
The
City Review article on the
Important Old Masters auction at Sotheby's New York Winter 2012
See The City Review article on the Important Old Masters auction at Sotheby's Winter 2011
See The City Review article on the Important Old Masters auction at Sotheby's Winter 2010