Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Old Masters at a ‘Pretty Serious Moment’

December 18, 2015 by Marion Maneker

Charles Antoine Coypel, The Destruction of the Palace of Armida (250-300k) 506k GBP
Charles Antoine Coypel, The Destruction of the Palace of Armida (250-300k) 506k GBP

Scott Reyburn adds his voice to the chorus lamenting the contraction of the Old Masters market. In this week’s International New York Times, Reyburn talks to the pros about what, if anything, is worth buying in the field:

“It’s naïve not to recognize we’re at a pretty serious moment,” said Anthony Crichton-Stuart, director of the London dealer Agnew’s. “There has been a massive taste shift. But when a good old master does come up at auction and it is priced correctly, you do get some excitement.”

“The new money is interested in old masters, but it wants what Duveen sold to the robber barons. It wants names,” said Hugo Nathan, a co-founder of the London advisers Beaumont Nathan. […]

Mr. Nathan was among the few dealers actively bidding at the evening sales. Buying on behalf of a client, he paid £506,500, or twice the estimate, at Christie’s for Charles-Antoine Coypel’s 1737 painting, “The Destruction of the Palace of Armida.”

“Today you have to shop by image,” Mr. Nathan said. “But if you are brave and don’t follow fashion, there are opportunities.”

Old Masters’ Prices Are No Laughing Matter  (The New York Times)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • It's OK to Spend on ArtIt's OK to Spend on Art
  • ArtBasel Miami Beach Sales ReportArtBasel Miami Beach Sales Report
  • Broad Blames Schimmel for Excesses at LA’s MoCABroad Blames Schimmel for Excesses at LA’s MoCA
  • At Hallmark, Their Art Collection Is InspirationAt Hallmark, Their Art Collection Is Inspiration
  • Andrei Molodkin Goes with the FlowAndrei Molodkin Goes with the Flow
  • ArtNews Top 200 CollectorsArtNews Top 200 Collectors

Filed Under: General

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • Gorky, Kandinsky Works to Make First Public Appearance Since 1970s at Sotheby's
  • Soulages First Owned by Senegalese Poet-Politician Léopold Sédar Senghor Sells in France
  • For 2020, Phillips Brought in Total of $760.4 million, Down 16 Percent from 2019; Asia Sales Up 24 Percent
  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • After Pandemic’s Rapid Change, Sotheby’s Has 8 Predictions for 2021
  • A Season of Resilience: Fall 2020 Hong Kong Auction Analysis
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Christie's to Sell $12m Yves Klein to Benefit The Water Academy
  • Roy Lichtenstein’s Top Ten Auction Prices
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor