Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

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

French Auction House Discovers Leonardo Drawing, Waits for Gov’t to Decide on Sale

December 12, 2016 by Marion Maneker

The New York Times devotes a lot of space to promoting France’s Tajan auction house and its purported discovery of a Leonardo drawing plumping for a price above $15m for the work.

While they’re at it, they take a shot at some previous Leonardo discoveries which either failed to generate sales excitement or may not be what the owners hope:

According to Dr. Bambach, the drawing — which she hopes will be bought by a French museum — represents the first “Leonardo, full stop” discovery (as she put it) in this medium since 2000, when Sotheby’s in London offered a slighter sheet from around 1506 to 1508 that had black chalk and pen studies of Hercules and whirlpools. It failed to sell against a low estimate of 400,000 pounds, or what was then about $600,000, but sold later for about $550,000. The drawing (also attributed by Dr. Bambach) is now jointly owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York collector Leon Black and his wife, Debra Ressler.

As for a much-debated mixed-media profile portrait of a young woman, known as “La Bella Principessa,” which eight years ago was valued by the London dealer Simon Dickinson at as much as $150 million, Dr. Bambach commented, “It does not look like a Leonardo.”

An Artistic Discovery Makes a Curator’s Heart Pound  (The New York Times)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Daily Mail Says Regional Rivalry Drove Leonardo BiddingDaily Mail Says Regional Rivalry Drove Leonardo Bidding
  • Yes, It’s a Leonardo. Stop Calling It a Fake.Yes, It’s a Leonardo. Stop Calling It a Fake.
  • Is the Leonardo Record a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy for Salvator Mundi’s Fame?Is the Leonardo Record a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy for Salvator Mundi’s Fame?
  • Brooke Lampley on Leonardo Buyer’s ToleranceBrooke Lampley on Leonardo Buyer’s Tolerance
  • Watch Salvator Mundi Become the Most Expensive Work of Art SoldWatch Salvator Mundi Become the Most Expensive Work of Art Sold
  • This Is What the Buyer of the Leonardo Is Paying ForThis Is What the Buyer of the Leonardo Is Paying For

Filed Under: Artists, General Tagged With: Leonardo

About Marion Maneker

LiveArt

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

  • 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