Sotheby’s has announced the sale of a previously unknown work by Velazquez for its July 3rd Old Master sales in London. The painting is being offered with a £2-3m estimate.

On 3 July, Sotheby’s will bring to auction a newly-discovered painting of Olimpia Pamphilj by Spanish master, Diego Velázquez. Lost for almost three centuries, this captivating portrait once formed part of the illustrious collection of Don Gaspar Mendez de Haro y Guzman, 7^th Marques del Carpio – one of the greatest patrons and collectors of arts in 17^th-century Italy.  Last recorded in 1724, it subsequently disappeared without trace. The whereabouts of the painting remained completely unknown until one day, an unattributed work, sold in the 1980s as ‘anonymous Dutch school’, was brought into Sotheby’s Amsterdam office. An intriguing old cypher hidden on the back of the painting prompted Sotheby’s specialists to begin a process of research and discovery – all of which ultimately lead to the realisation that this striking portrait was the long-lost original by Velázquez: a painting much revered in its day and executed during the artist’s ‘golden period’.

The Velazquez is joined by another rediscovered work found by a Sotheby’s staffer going through works submitted to the auction house’s digital valuation tool:

Cristiana Romalli, Senior Director and Italian specialist in Sotheby’s Old Master Drawings Department, paused at an intriguingly accomplished sketch. It looked to her like an accomplished work by major Mannerist artist, Rosso Fiorentino, whose drawings are extremely rare. Cristiana retired home to read Giorgio Vasari’s ‘Lives of the Artists’, chronicling the lives of the leading Italian artists of the early 16th-century. And there she found a reference to this work, since then unrecorded – lost from the canon of art history.

Rosso Fiorentino’s The Visitation (est. £500,000 – 700,000) (Old Master & British Works on Paper Sale): This newly discovered 16th century work by the Italian Mannerist painter is an extremely rare example of a chalk drawing by Rosso Fiorentino, and the first compositional study by the artist to appear on the market for half a century. Long thought lost, it is an important and vital addition to the artist’s corpus of drawings.Delicately executed in black chalk, the ten-figure composition was created by Rosso on the request of Aretine painter Giovanni Antonio Lappoli, who had been granted in 1524 a commission for a private altarpiece for the family chapel of the wealthy Aretine citizen, Cipriano d’Anghiari.

The Old Master sale is one of Sotheby’s strongest with an overall estimate of £46-65.9m/ $59.5-83.7m

Thomas Gainsborough’s Going to Market, Early Morning (est. £7-9m): one of the finest masterpiece by the artist remaining in private hands and one of the finest British landscapes by any artist likely to ever come to market. Painted in 1773, the work is one of an important group of three landscapes from the same moment showing travellers going to or returning from market. The subject and composition of the picture demonstrate Gainsborough’s natural affinity with, and sympathy for, the rural poor and the landscape.

J.M.W. Turner’s Landscape with Walton Bridges, (est. £4-6m), a rarely-seen late work by the artist which foreshadows the advent of Impressionism just a few decades later. One of only a handful of late works by the artist left in private hands, this painting belonged first to Turner’s landlady and partner Sophia Booth. It was later bought by one of the greatest collector in American history, becoming one of the jewels in the crown of the celebrated Morgan Collection in New York.
 
A rare compositional study for John Constable’s celebrated The White Horse (est. £2 – 3m): the ‘six-footer’ masterpiece, now in the Frick in New York, that launched Constable’s career
 
Peter Paul Rubens, Head of a Young Warrior(est. £2.5-3.5m): Painted in the early 1610s, Head of a Young Warrior shows Rubens in complete control of his medium, his brush, and his subject. The characteristically vivacious and energetic study was most likely kept in the artist’s studio as a prop throughout his life for use in larger compositions, including his painting of Saint Ambrosius of Milan barring Emperor Theodosius from entering the Cathedral in Milan, painted circa 1615-1617, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

Scottish auction house Lyon & Turnbull is mounting an exhibition at its London showrooms on Connaught Street starting Monday, June 24th that brings back to public attention three early female British artists. Bendor Grosvenor, an advisor to Lyon & Turnbull and the host of Britain’s Lost Masterpieces, organized the show.

Lyon & Turnbull’s new Head of British & European Art, Rohan McCulloch, has been working with Bendor Grosvenor to present “Bright Souls” The Forgotten Story of Britain’s First Female Artists, an exhibition presenting the lost art and forgotten story of Britain’s pioneering female painters.

For the first time ever, we will bring together the work of the 17th Century artists Joan Carlile, Mary Beale, and Anne Killigrew. Previously, their stories have faded from view in the broad sweep of British art history, with many of their works being attributed to male artists such as Sir Peter Lely. But all three artists were well known to contemporaries: Carlile as the first professional female British artist; Beale as the most successful; and Killigrew, dying of smallpox at the age of just 23 as the most tragic.

Killigrew’s death prompted the then Poet Laureate John Dryden to hope that her legacy would nevertheless live on, writing, “Still with a greater blaze she shone, And her bright soul broke out on ev’ry side.’” Our new exhibition will now not only reveal new light on the careers of Carlile, Beale and Killigrew, but will also unveil a number of hitherto lost works.

Heritage has been very active in the KAWS market. They’ve sold many of the artist’s collectible toys, a segment of KAWS’s market that was the source of so much value and momentum. Now Heritage’s Leon Benrimon has secured one of the artist’s early bus stop ad works which also happens to have one of the first depictions of KAWS’s Companion figure:

A historic early painting by KAWS, which transformed a New York bus stop into an iconic piece of street art, will lead an important sale of Urban Art held by Heritage Auctions July 22-23 in Chicago. 

Companion – Bus Stop, 2001 (estimate: $300,000-500,000) is from the artist’s early and sought after ad disruption series, in which he augmented or replaced large advertisements with his art. It is one of the artist’s earliest known portrayals of his iconic Companion and only the second painting of its kind offered at public auction of the estimated 5-7 ad replacement disruptions known to exist. Bidding will start at $100,000.

“For an important piece like this, Heritage is sending Companion – Bus Stop on a world-wide tour with special previews and events in New York, Hong Kong, Dallas and Chicago,” said Leon Benrimon, a Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at Heritage. 

The first stop on the painting’s world tour will bring the artwork back to its roots in New York, where it will be exhibited with other highlights from the sale June 17-21 at Heritage’s offices at 445 Park Avenue at 57th Street, with a reception scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m., June 20.

Sotheby’s announced this morning that the board of directors has accepted a $57 a share bid for the company:

Sotheby’s (NYSE: BID) today announced that it has signed a definitive
merger agreement to be acquired by BidFair USA, an entity wholly owned by media and telecom entrepreneur as well as art collector, Patrick Drahi. Under the terms of the agreement, which was approved by Sotheby’s Board of Directors, shareholders, including employee shareholders, will receive $57.00 in cash per share of Sotheby’s common stock in a transaction with an enterprise value of $3.7 billion. The offer price represents a premium of 61% to Sotheby’s closing price on June 14, 2019, and a 56.3% premium to the company’s 30 trading-day volume weighted average share price. The transaction would result in Sotheby’s returning to private ownership after 31 years as a public company traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Drahi shared a letter explaining his personal involvement in the purchase:

I am very honored that the Board of Sotheby’s has decided to recommend my offer.

With my family, we are very enthusiastic to build together with its current management and their teams the future of Sotheby’s, a fascinating and multi-secular company with such a celebrated history of uniting people all over the world through culture and arts.

For my entire life, I have been passionate about this industry and I believe the opportunities and growth potential are significant for Sotheby’s.

I am making this investment for my family, through my personal holding, with a very long-term perspective. There is no capital link with Altice Europe or Altice USA.

As the future owner, I have full confidence in Sotheby’s management, and hence do not anticipate any change to the Company’s strategy. Management and their exceptional teams and talent around the world will continue to operate with my full support.

This investment will further demonstrate the anchoring of my family in the United States, a country where we have been very welcomed since the successful acquisitions of Suddenlink in 2015, Cablevision in 2016 and just recently Cheddar.

The telecom and media industries will keep being my main focus where I remain 100% committed to our businesses and to our continued growth. I will of course keep leading the management team in the development and growth of Altice Europe, as well as remain Chairman of the Board of Altice USA to support Dexter and his team who are doing a great job.

The acquisition of Sotheby’s will be funded by financings arranged and underwritten by BNP Paribas as well as by equity provided from my own funds. To help fund this transaction, I do not intend to sell any shares in Altice Europe NV; my intention is to monetize a small position in Altice USA up to $400 million by the end of the year. Due to Altice USA’s share repurchase program, the total economic stake of my holdings in Altice USA has increased over the last 12 months from approximately 34% to 38 %.

Drahi’s ownership of Sotheby’s when it closes later this year will put both major auction houses in the hands of French billionaires. Drahi owns a number of properties but his primary wealth is through Altice, the telecom company.