2017

Johannes Spilberg, sold in Czechia for 350,000 Euro plus costs

Hello, dear readers, welcome back! I've been offline for two weeks, but our normal schedule will resume again now, with many auctions to look at and choose from.

For a start, I have updated some old posts with results (e.g. the above work which fetched 37,500 Euro). I'm also very glad to note that while I was away, this blog has passed the 50,000 pageviews mark, with nearly 10,000 additional pageviews per month now; we have come a long way in the two years since I started writing these little auction comments.

I get more and more comments from readers as well, thank you all for that. Just a reminder that if you send me a mail from a blog post (with the contact form), I can't see which blog post you sent this from, so if you refer to a specific work, please make sure to include a link or some identifying information about it in your post. I try to reply to every mail I receive!

If you want more indepth advice, about works you own, works you want to buy or sell, or help with paintings or artists you are looking for at auction, just let me know. I don't work for free (this blog is already taking up too much of my spare time), but for a small fee I can provide a lot of help or information. Just ask away, and I'll let you know if I can help you and what it would cost you if you agree with it.

20,000 pageviews!

Thnak you, dear readers. Even when I hardly post anything during summer, people keep on reading my old posts. While I never had a day with more than 200 pageviews until this month, I now have had already four consecutive days with more than 200 pageviews, including one with more than 400 pageviews, which has boosted the total number of views over the 20K mark.

I'll pick up the pace again over the next few weeks, and hope to find lots of interesting paintings to share with you, from the worst fakes to the hidden gems.

Still growing, thanks!

Thank you, dear readers, to keep on reading my blog. While the numbers may be insignificant compared to the big bloggers, it still is heartwarming to see an increase nearly every month, with this May breaking the 2,000 pageviews per month barrier for the first time (and not by a slim margin, 2435 pageviews!).

I'm not always  completely happy with what I can present you, but I'm restricted by what the auctions houses offer, how badly they describe or estimate them, and my limited time. Ans sometimes I know people already going after an interesting one, and then it would be not so nice to share it with others as well ;-) But I'll do my best to find further interesting works where I can tell a bit of a story, and share my often unheeded estimate of them as well.

Summer summary

Visitors by countries since start of blog: 35 old, 10 new (based on partial data)
*old not revisited (10): Brazil, New Zealand, Belarus, Georgia, Japan, Lebanon, Maroc, Philippines, South Korea, United Arab Emirates
*Old revisited (25): Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, Ukraine, USA
*New (10): Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Ireland, Malaysia, Malta, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey

3,000th pageview in July 2015. 4,000th pageview in September 2015. Number of pageviews dropped at first considerably in July, due to a near-total lack of new postings probably. But the discovery of the fake Cranach gave a boost, with the blog post about it becoming the most viewed page until then (45 views so far) and a total number of pageviews on 29 July reaching 116, the first time I broke the 100 pageviews in a day barrier.

My August post about a Hargesheimer sale in September of a Venetian painting estimated at 500 Euro, which ended at 150,000 Euro instead (as it was probably by Palma Vecchio or Bonifazio Veronese), got quite some attention and stands at 46 page views as my most popular post. This also caused the second time that I exceeded 100 pageviews in one day, with a new record of 152 pageviews on 21 September.This resulted also in September 2015 being the month with the most pageviews for this blog ever, surpassing the previous record on 24 September and ending the month at 896 pageviews, or 30 a day.

May and June summary

May and June showed a steady rise in visitors compared to April: from 408 pageviews in April over 515 in May to 709 in June, breaking the previous record of March. The 2000th pageview happened on June 2nd. I also passed the 200 and 250 posts milestone.

Visitors have come now from 35 different countries, including 13 new ones: Argentina, Belarus, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, India, Japan, Maroc, Russia, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates

I placed 5 bids on auctions, winning two items, both somewhat disappointing; a follower of Ruisdael and a manner of Cranach, which I first hoped to be closer to the real thing. A nice painting, but not as old as I hoped. I'll sell them in the autumn, and let you know more about them at that time, if appropriate.

My second most popular post (by pageview, which doesn't catch everything) is with 20 views a post about a copy after Rubens: not really my most remarkable post, so probably some coincidence. But my June posting about a possible Simon Marmion Burgundian portrait reached a nice 34 views, partly because my tweet about it was favoured and retweeted by the auction house.

Which reminds me: I started to Tweet, you can find me at https://twitter.com/auctionaugur!

The blog will be mostly quiet in July, with my holidays on the one handand a lack of interesting auctions on the other. I guess it will pick up again in August, with the announcements of the first September auctions. Enjoy the summer (or if you are in the Southern hemisphere, enjoy winter)!

April summary

In April, I dropped from the very fast growth in March to more realistic viewing figures. 408 In one month, or some 13 a day, is still clearly above the February average, and May had a flying start already. The global appeal of this blog is still increasing as well, with for the first time visitors from Australia, China, Lebanon, Pakistan, Portugal and Ukraine (22 different countries so far!)

Major story: an Italian School painting, which I highlighted and analyzed (but about which I had some misgivings) was estimated at $6,000 to $8,000 and sold for $144,000! Must be the first real major sleeper I blogged about (before it was known to be a sleeper of course, I posted about a few sleepers after the fact but that's somewhat easier :-D ).

I also highlight a lot of paintings which aren't really hidden treasures, but either correctly estimated but badly described, or simply overestimated. In the latter category, I'm always happy when such things fail to sell, like e.g. with these later copies or fakes. Or when they don't fetch the presale estimate of $15,000 but nearly match my estimate of $5,000 instead. But it also happens that an unrecognised Rubens copy (pictured), where I thought the estimate of $2,000 to be right, eventually sells for more than $10,000 instead, which makes you wonder what you (or the buyer) have missed.

On the other hand, some lots I thought were underestimated also didn't sell, like this British portrait in which I saw the hand of a known American painter, or these two Dutch paintings which I thought were by Jacob Toorenvliet but didn't sell at Bonham's, or this painting which I described as Van de Velde meets Rembrandt...

For my 100th post, I highlighted a sleeper Dutch portrait, which I rated quite high, certainly worth more than the 6,000 to 8,000 Euro estimate. Showing my influence and predictive abilities, the painting failed to sell...

More succesful were e.g. this old Flemish portrait, which fetched double the estimate at Rops, a Flemish School Lazarus sold in Dijon for triple the estimate (and exactly my estimate!), a Pietro Paolini at Vanderkindere that fetched twice its estimate, a Saint Helena going for three times its estimate, or a naval scene by Musin (pictured) which fetched 5 times the estimate!

My bids: I made bids on two lots. The first one, displayed above was estimated at £400 to 600, but when I recognised the author of the painting and the work it was a preparatory sketch for, I considered it to be worth more. Sadly, I wasn't the only one and it ended at £2,200. No idea whether it will appear at a major auction with the right description, or in a museum, I just hope it will be available to the scholars to study as it is important for the artist. The second one, a badly described but easily recognisable Frans Francken II, sold for its value, not for the bargain price I hoped for in vain (but which was still above the estimate!).

March summary

This month, the number of pageviews continued to rise and ended at 666 views (exceeding the 1,000 cumulated), or more than 20 per day, up from 8 a day in February. Apart from the countries given in earlier summaries, I now welcomed new readers from Canada, New Zealand and Finland. HIghest number of pageviews in one day was 82.

I also have a new "most populat" post, with 13 pageviews: Cornelis de Vos or David Teniers, about a picture bought above estimate and sold again for a lot more a few months later. I already thought it expensive the first time round, so you probably shouldn't take my recommendations too seriously.

A lot of posts and auctions this month, and some nice results. Most paintings I posted as being interesting eventually sold, and a fair number exceeded the highest estimate.

From early February came a Workshop of Rubens "Virgin and Child", estimated at 4,000 to 5,000 Euro which eventually sold at a nice 11,000 Euro.

A Circle of Dirk Bouts "Virgin and Child" was estimated at 10,000 to 15,000 Euro, and sold for 16,500 Euro.

A Circle of Clouet (but more likely a Dumoustier) portrait was estimated at 3,000 to 4,000 Euro and sold for 7,000 Euro.

At Lempertz, they sold an Annunciation estimated at 8,000 to 9,000 Euro, which seemed very reasonable. It eventually sold for 31,000!

An interesting Early Netherlandish portrait at Koller was not sold, probably because the doubts whether it was original or a fake were too strong.

I highlighted a Lamentation for sale at Hargesheimer, estimated at 1,200 Euro. It sold for 9,500 Euro instead. A reader provided the identification of the original painting through an engraving. In the same auction was a portrait estimated at 280 Euro which I tried to buy, but which went for 3,000 Euro in the end...

A portrait in the manner of Holbein for sale at Morphets was estimated at £800 to 1,200, but sold for £2,800.

A portrait of General Darnaud, for sale at Myers, was only estimated at $600 to $800, but sold for $9,000 instead.

At Uppsala, they sold a Bacchus which I recognised as a copy after Coypel, and which was estimated at 330 to 430 Euro but sold for 1,600 Euro instead.

A Crucifixion by Francken II was for sale at Drouot Richelieu with an estimate of 4,000 to 6,000 Euro and sold for 11,100 Euro.

February summary

Does anybody know the result (and fate) of this painting? Please let us know!

Second full month of the blog, time for a short roundup. A pity is that of many of the paintings I highlighted, I haven't been able to find the eventual result. The others I thought were underestimated usually exceeded their estimation, e.g. this one was set for 200 Euro and sold for 1,600 Euro, while this one started at 400 Euro but was sold for 1,600 Euro as well. But for what was to me the most interesting painting of the month, a Veronese copy(?) for sale here, I couldn't find the result, just like for many others. If anyone else finds results I missed, please let me know!

From 92 pageviews in January, it went to 244 pageviews in February, or from 3 to 8 pageviews a day. Of course, with much more pages to view as well... Visitors, apart from a lot of them (or a few fanatical ones, thanks!) from France, came from some new countries, including Italy, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and the Philippines. Most popular, thanks to the enticing title probably, was "Was the Mytens "Magdalen" an inspiration for Caravaggio?" with 12 pageviews. 

January summary

The sleeper of the month!

January 2015 was my first full month of this blog, and I highlighted quite a few paintings, some that might have escaped your attention otherwise, others that were easy to spot for everybody... No idea what February will give, but here are some results from my first posts. Many other auctions aren't finished yet or haven't posted their results.

• An anonymous "Veronica", estimated at 700 to 1,000 Euro, sold for 1,700 Euro.
• A "Madonna and Child" after Sassoferrato was estimated at 700 to 1,000 Euro, and sold for 1,200 Euro
• An anonymous ca. 1520 "Nativity" was estimated at only $3,000 to 5,000, which seemed cheap considering the decent quality. The buyers agreed with me, as it sold for $21,250 instead!
• At Van Ham, they sold a copy after Rubens' "Adoration of the Magi", estimated at 2,000 Euro, which I considered to be enough. It sold for 1,800 Euro, so that fits quite nicely.
• The same auction also had a nice work by Edouard Quitton, estimated at only 1,000 Euro, which seemed very cheap. And indeed, it went for 2,304 Euro instead.
• An old portrait was for sale in Sweden. I noticed the auction with some 5 hours to spare, when the original estimate of 370 Euro was already shattered. In the end, it sold for 10,300 Euro, or 32 times the highest estimate!

And then I listed my view on the Christie's and Sotheby's old master sales, indicating a small number of over- and underestimated works.

• Sotheby's, overestimated: 5 works: 3 not sold, 2 sold under estimate, so not too bad!
• Sotheby's underestimated: 5 works: 1 not sold, 2 sold at estimate, 2 sold over estimate: more mixed result, but I'm glad that I spotted two works that seriously exceeded their highest estimate at least.

 Overall, only one real error at the Sotheby predictions, an annunciation by Gerard Seghers that I liked for its price but failed to sell. 

• Christie's, overestimated: 5 works: 3 not sold, 2 sold in the estimated price range, a mixed result here.
• Christie's, underestimated: 3 works: 1 not sold, 2 sold for more than the highest estimate! 

A less clear result here, but I'm especially glad that 2 of the 3 underestimated ones clearly exceeded expectations.

As for my blog, it's slowly growing. So far, I've had visitors from Belgium, Brazil, Germany, France, Poland, Romania, Spain, the UK, and the USA. 92 Pageviews in January, or about 3 per day. We'll see if and how it grows in February!