Dec - Old Master and British Paintings Evening Sale

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For Immediate ReleaseThursday, 3 November 2011

Contact: Hannah Schmidt [email protected] +44 207 389 2965Matthew Paton [email protected] +44 207 389 2964

GOYA, BRUEGHEL, GAINSBOROUGH, VAN DE VELDE & MAESLEAD OLD MASTER & BRITISH PAINTINGS

AT CHRISTIES LONDON IN DECEMBER

LondonChristiesOld Master and British Paintings Evening Saleon 6 December 2011will present the market

with 36 paintings, providing a visual feast of European art history spanning 500 years. Leading the sale is

Portrait of Juan Lpez de Robredo byFrancisco Jos de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828), the greatest Spanish

painter of his time (estimate: 4 million to 6 million), illustrated above. Offered at auction for the first time in

almost twenty years, this important portrait stands alone in Goyas oeuvre as an example of an artist the

Embroiderer to King Carlos IV of Spain -depicted in the manner of a courtier. Further highlights include The

Battle between Carnival and Lent by Pieter Brueghel II (1564/5-1637/8) (estimate: 3.5 million to 4.5million); a full length Portrait of Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl of Chesterfield (1755-1815), by Thomas

Gainsborough, R.A. (1727-1788) (estimate: 2.5 million to 3.5 million); Dutch men-o'-war and other shipping

in a calm byWillem van de Velde II (1633-1707) (estimate: 1.5 million to 2.5 million) ; An old woman

spinning in an interiorbyNicolaes Maes (1632-1693),1658 (estimate: 1 million to 1.5million) and An old

man at a casement, 1646, byGovaert Flinck (1615-1660) (estimate 700,000 to 1,000,000). The sale as a

whole comprises strong portraiture and a notable number of important Dutch pictures and is expected to

realise between 18 million and 26 million.
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This auction builds on the success of the corresponding sale at Christies London in July 2011 which

realised 49,766,050 / $79,625,680 / 54,991,485, and set nine new record prices for artists, including

Stubbs (22,441,250 / $35,906,000) and Gainsborough (6,537,250 / $10,459,600).

Richard Knight, International co-Head of Old Masters and 19thCentury Art at Christies and Paul

Raison, Head of Old Masters and 19th Century Art at Christies London: We are pleased to meet the

markets continuing appetite forimportant works of exceptional quality, condition and rarity with a stellar group of paintings

in the evening sale this December. This year, our field has witnessed a noticeable broadening of appeal with collectors both

globally and increasingly across a range of categories, bringing new energy. Combined with the strong results achieved in July,

this presents an exciting context for these works, particularlyGoyas masterful Portrait of Juan Lpez de Robredo, to come to

auction.

Highlights of the auction:

-Portrait of Juan Lpez de Robredo is an important work byFrancisco Jos de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828),

which has been widely exhibited and documented (estimate: 4 million to 6 million). Executed with

Goyas inimitable style and mastery of characterisation, it is a vivid and engaging depiction of a fellow artist.

Born into a dynasty of bordadores, Lpez de Robredo not only designed and created exquisite

embroideries to embellish the costumes of the Court including those of the extravagant Queen Mara-

Luisa but also embroidered hangings, upholstery and woven pictures, many of which remain in the

Spanish royal palaces to this day. An artisan and yet also an hidalgo of good family, Robredo was

immensely proud of his social position and artistic ability. The pinnacle of his career came in 1798 when he

was finally granted the right to wear a court uniform similar to, but even more lavish than, those worn by

the painters, sculptors and diamond cutters of the Spanish Court. Robredo was so proud that he

commissioned this portrait by Goya, illustrated page 1, which - as the leading portraitist of the day and a firm

favourite of the Spanish Court - was an audacious move, signalingthe sitters ambition.

The brilliance of this picture resides in the sympathetic manner in which Goya flatters his sitter whilst also

indicating Robredos vanity, as he proudly shows off his dazzling new uniform. Robredos skill is clear in

both the sheet of pattern designs which he holds and the embroidered reality which lavishly adorns his coat

and waistcoat, detail illustrated right. Ensuring that the sitter is not overwhelmed by his own attire, Goya

balances his masterful handling of the gold braid

with a sensitive depiction of Robredos face, pulling

the viewers attention back to his essential humanity.

A magisterial celebration of professional success,

Goya, who had previously fought for officialrecognition, may be viewed as both smiling at and

empathizingwith Robredos justifiable pride.

-The Battle between Carnival and LentbyPieter Brueghel II (1564/5-1637/8) exemplifies the unique blend ofstorytelling and riotous anecdotal detail that has endeared the work of the Brueghels to generations of art-

lovers (estimate: 3.5 million to 4.5 million). The internationally acclaimed Brueghel expert, Klaus Ertz,

has judged this beautifully preserved picture, which is the property of a gent leman, to be of masterly

quality. It is one of Pieter Brueghel the Younger's finest reinterpretations of his father's work, which is one


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of the most recognizable of all the images within the

Brueghelian canon. Five versions of the

composition by the artist's son are known, of which

only three are considered to be autograph. The

picture as a whole is a brilliant demonstration of the

Breughels' unique ability to orchestrate acutely

observed characterization andanecdote into original

compositions of great imaginative power. The

meaning of The Battle between Carnival and Lent,

illustrated left, has been endlessly discussed and

interpreted, but rather than imposing a didactic

moral message, the picture is notable for its even-handed treatment of both Lent and Carnival. There is no

obvious winner in this battle. The artists mocking open-air lunatic asylum quality seen in works like this

one has a resonance which has transcended time, most recently being examined in the work of the

Chapman Brothers in their contemporary art showDie Dada Die, in Zurich.

- A remarkably well-preserved and exceptional full length Portrait of Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl of Chesterfield

(1755-1815) byThomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) is presented for sale for the first time in over half a

century, having been bought by the late present owner in 1959 (estimate:2.5 million to 3.5 million). This

picture is offered in December followingthe success ofPortrait of Miss Read, later Mrs William Villeboiswhich

set a world record price for the artist when it sold from the Cowdray Park

collection for 6.5million / $10.4 million in July 2011.Chesterfield had inherited the title in 1773 from a cousin, Philip Stanhope,

4th Earl of Chesterfield, the famous author of the Letters, but he waited

until his marriage in 1777 before commissioning a pair of full-lengthportraits to mark the ennoblement of his branch of the family. Depicting

Lord Chesterfield relaxing on a country walk, it was painted as a pendant

to the more formal portrait of his wife, which was bought by the Getty

Museum, in 1959.It was executed in the years after Gainsborough's move

from Bath to London in 1774; the period when he established his

reputation as one of the most sophisticated painters of his generation. This

portrait demonstrates the artists dexterity and lightness of touch and his

increasingly confident and experimental approach to painting.

Offered at auction for the first time in over 150 years,from a family

trust, Dutch men-o'-war and other shipping in a calm byWillem van de

Velde II (1633-1707) has long been recognised as one of the

outstanding paintings in the artists oeuvre (estimate: 1.5 million

to 2.5 million), illustrated left. It is in exceptionally good condition

and has, since it was first documented in 1778 at the Servad sale in

Amsterdam, long received unanimous acclaim for its technical

excellence and the serene harmony of its composition.


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-From the same collection, An old woman spinning in an interior, 1658, by

Nicolaes Maes (1632-1693), 1658, is also offered for the first time in

over 150 years (estimate: 1 million to 1.5million), illustrated left. This

charming painting belongs to a group of about twenty-five genre scenes

by Maes that feature a housewife or maid seated in a domestic interiorand engaged in an everyday activity such as spinning. Maes's genre

paintings invariably communicate a moralising message, which would

have been readily understood by the contemporary viewer.A copy of thepresent work in watercolour, with variations and the inclusion of a boy receiving a bible lesson from the

housewife, by the Dordrecht painter Abraham van Strij (1753-1826), is in the collection of the Stedelijk

Museum, Amsterdam.

- An Old Man at a Casement, 1646, by Govaert Flinck (1615-1660) is a rediscovered treasure from the

Hermitage (estimate: 700,000 - 1,000,000), illustrated below. Having once graced the walls of the Imperial

Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, this is one of Flincks most powerful paintings, remarkable both for its

technical virtuosity and its psychological intensity. It reveals how by the mid-1640s Flinck had emerged as

the chief rival to Rembrandt, in whose workshop he had trained between 1633 and 1635.

Flincks portraits of this period were particularly admired by his

contemporaries, though few possess the brooding, mesmeric power of

the present work, which focuses from close quarters on the

contemplative man leaning on a casement. Acquired by Catherine the

Great of Russia as part of one of the greatest collection-building

campaigns in history - the product of which was to become the Imperialand subsequently the State Hermitage Museum - this picture is recorded

in an inventory made after her death in 1797, and seems to have been

separated from the Hermitage collections in the mid-nineteenth-century.

This is the first time that it has been offered on the market since the

early twentieth century.

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Dec - Old Master and British Paintings Evening Sale