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Old Master Drawings

Results: Eleven new artist records were achieved in Sotheby's Masters Week sale series, led by a newly-discovered work by Sir Peter Paul Rubens and by paintings by Adam de Coster and Willem Drost, pictured at right. The week concluded with $41.9 million in sales of paintings, drawings, and sculpture.

Auction Details: With exciting, newly discovered or rarely seen drawings from four centuries, and estimates ranging from 3,000 to 300,000 USD, the Old Master Drawings sale contains something for every taste and budget.  The British section of the sale is particularly strong this year, including two splendid Swiss views by Turner, two definitive watercolours by William Blake, three fine, characteristic works by Gainsborough, and a major watercolour of an Arthurian subject by Burne-Jones.  A substantial consignment from the Berger Collection Educational Trust includes no fewer than six outstanding drawings by François Boucher, illustrating every aspect of his work.  Also exceptionally well represented is Guercino, with rare landscapes in pen and ink and red chalk, as well as superb figure drawings from all periods of the artist’s career.  Among the earlier Italian drawings is a fine, rare preliminary study for a chiaroscuro woodcut by Parmigianino, and important new discoveries by Lelio Orsi and Nosadella, while the Dutch school is also led by a discovery, a major drawing by Jacob van Ruisdael.