Sotheby's Masters Week Sales Series Totals $82.5 Million In New York

Nearly Double The Same Series in 2017 With 650+ Lots Sold across 6 Auctions

Evening Sale of Master Paintings Sets 11 New Artist Records Including Nicolas Lancret & Hans Holbein the Elder

MASTER DRAWINGS ACHIEVE AN EXCEPTIONAL $16.8 MILLION Led by the Superb Collection of Howard & Saretta Barnet

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Feb 05, 2018, 09:46 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sotheby's (NYSE: BID) annual Masters Week auctions achieved an overall total of $82.5 million – approaching the high estimate for the series of $85.9 million. This total is nearly double the results of the same sale series in 2017 ($41.9 million).

Below is a look at some of the highlights that drove the results of our Masters Week series:

Saint Margaret, a painting by the Italian master Titian, was among the highlights of Sotheby’s 2018 Masters Week auctions, which achieved $82.5 million, more than double the total from one year ago.

Master Paintings & Sculpture Day Sale Total: $8.2 million

Our Masters Week auctions concluded last Friday morning with the Master Paintings & Sculpture Day Sale. The auction was led by Jacopo Zucchi's 16^th-century Portrait Of A Young Lady In An Embroidered Dress And Pearls, which sold for $567,000 – more than four times its pre-sale high estimate (estimate $80/120,000).

Master Paintings Evening Sale Total: $48.4 million

Thursday's evening sale was led by an impressive pair of Venetian views by Canaletto, which sold for $4.2 million (estimate $3/4 million). Most likely completed in England in the 1740s, the pair offers waterfront views of two of the most recognizable façades in La Serenissima: the Church of the Redentore and the Prisons of San Marco. While there are other known views of the Church of the Redentore by Canaletto, the present view of the Prisons of San Marco is a unique composition for the artist of which no other version is known.

The Line of Beauty: Drawings from the Collection of Howard and Saretta Barnet Total: $11.6 Million

Assembled over some 40 years by the New York couple Howard and Saretta Barnet, this superb collection told the story of five centuries of the art of drawing in Western Europe. The auction's total of $11.6 million far outstripped its high estimate of $7.2 million, demonstrating the exceptional quality, beauty and market appeal for the Barnets' collection. The dedicated sale was led by Samuel Palmer's A Church With A Boat And Sheep from circa 1831, which achieved $2.4 million – nearly seven times its high estimate of $350,000, and a new world auction record for the artist.

The Otto Naumann Sale Total: $6.2 Million

Wednesday's auctions concluded with a dedicated evening sale of property from the gallery and private collection of Otto Naumann, the preeminent dealer of Old Master and 19^th Century paintings who is regarded as one of the most respected figures in the international art scene. Offering a supreme assortment of Dutch, Flemish, Italian, Spanish and British paintings spanning the 16^th through the 19^th centuries, the auction totaled $6.2 million – surpassing its high estimate of $5.2 million. The sale established new auction records for eight artists, including benchmark prices for James Drummond, Denys Calvaert and Giovanni Bilivert.

Old Master Drawings including the Collection of Professor Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann Total: $5.2 Million

The various-owner sale of Old Master Drawings was anchored by the collection of the late Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann, the long-standing and much revered professor of the History of Art at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. The collection totaled $1.5 million – nearly double its high estimate – and was led by Karel van Mander the Elder's record-breaking The Repentance of Zacchaeus the Tax Collector, a beautifully-preserved example of late 16^th-century Dutch Mannerist draughtsmanship that sold for $387,000 (estimate $60/80,000).

About Sotheby's

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SOURCE Sotheby's