Sotheby’s Amsterdam sale of two Old Master paintings by Adriaen Coorte that had been discovered hidden in a cupboard established new record prices for the artist and together made more than €3m. Sotheby’s press release explains below:

Today at Sotheby’s Amsterdam two important, newly-discovered still lifes by the much sought-after Dutch artist, Adriaen Coorte, were both the subject of long and spirited bidding-battles and the two paintings brought a combined total of €3,097,500 (£2,827,219), far in excess of pre-sale expectations.

Six bidders competed for Still life of strawberries in an earthenware bowl, driving the price up to a final €1,520,750 (£1,388,053), more than ten times its pre-sale high estimate of €100,000 to 150,000* and establishing a new auction record for the artist by a considerable margin.

Moments later, this new auction record was then broken again when the second of the two still lifes, Still life of a peach and two apricots, attracted considerable interest and achieved the outstanding price of €1,576,750 (£1,439,166), again against an estimate of €100,000 to 150,000. Five potential buyers – who were bidding on the telephone and in the saleroom – all battled it out for this work. Both paintings were acquired by the same Private European Collector after considerable competition from around the world. The price achieved for Still life of a peach and two apricots represents the highest price for a painting sold in The Netherlands in 2009.