“Peter Paul Rubens turned out to be the leader of the section” – Kommersant FM

Kommersant FM columnist Dmitry Butkevich talks about which lots became sensational in 2023.

We summarize the first results of the auction market in the past 2023 in the “Old Masters” segment. The segment is narrow (less than 10% of global auction turnover), largely due to the rarity of the masterpieces, but nevertheless attracts passionate bidding.

Remember that the most expensive work in auction history is “Salvator Mundi” by Leonardo da Vinci, which sold for $450 million in 2017? Most recently, a work by an old master was sold for almost $100 million: Sandro Botticelli’s “Portrait of a Young Man” went for $92 million in 2021.

Last year the results were not so impressive, but there were sensations nonetheless.

The outstanding Baroque Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens turned out to be the leader of the “Old Masters” section. Its annual auction turnover amounted to $62 million, and this is from just nine lots sold.

The last time Rubens’ spectacular composition “Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist” was exhibited at Sotheby’s in New York in January 1998 and was sold for $5.5 million. In January 2023, the canvas went for $26.9 million, adding $21 million for quarter of century. Another Rubens masterpiece in 2023 at Sotheby’s was “Portrait of a Man in the Image of Mars,” which also rose greatly in price over 20 years: from $6.8 million in 2002 to $26.2 million now.

Rubens’ younger contemporary, the Dutchman Rembrandt van Rijn, received a total of $47 million, including $14.3 million for two paired portraits. After remaining in the same family for 200 years, their appearance at Christie’s in London last July caused a sensation.

And unexpected results were brought by the Fleming of the same 17th century, Michael Swerts, who was rediscovered by art historians only in the middle of the 20th century. In July 2023, at Christie’s in London, his “Artist’s Studio with a Seamstress” was sold for a record $16 million, four times its estimate. And already in December, a possible self-portrait of the artist depicting the Praying Virgin Mary was sold at Christie’s for $2.2 million, the second above the estimate.