Italian Renaissance master Andrea Mantegna’s only known preparatory study for his painting of The Triumph of Alexandria, the second canvas in the great series of nine paintings representing The Triumph of Caesar, now in the British Royal Collection at Hampton Court Palace, achieved a record-setting $11.7 million. The sale established a new auction record for a drawing by the artist and places the work as the 5th most expensive Old Master drawing sold at auction. It also marks the most expensive Old Master drawing sold in the United States.

One of the most art historically important drawings ever to appear at auction, the pen and ink drawing was recently rediscovered and Mantegna’s authorship was conclusively determined through the research of Cristiana Romalli, Senior Director and Italian specialist in Sotheby’s Old Master Drawings department. On the sale of the drawing, Romalli commented: “It has been such a privilege to bring this masterpiece to auction and to get to know this superb work, which is a great testament of one of the most important artists of the Renaissance. It’s been the year of Mantegna, having been the subject of three major museum shows in 2019, and we were thrilled to see it generate such excitement among private collectors and institutions alike.”

The study is among approximately 20 known drawings by Mantegna. All except two are in the collections of major museums, such as the British Museum in London, and only two other drawings by Mantegna have appeared at auction in the last half century.

A further highlight from this morning’s sale include a beautifully preserved drawing of The Madonna and Child by the early Umbrian master, Bernardino di Betto, called Pintoricchio, which soared past its pre-sale high estimate of $600,000, realizing $920,000 and establishing a new auction record for the artist. Measuring over 8 inches in length, this extraordinary devotional image was unknown to scholars until very recently and is the first drawing by the artist to appear at auction. Approximately 10 drawings by the artist are known, and the works that constitute the very small corpus of the artist’s known drawings are close to the graphic style of Perugino, and to that of the young Raphael, whose debt to the Umbrian master is evident in his very early career.
19TH CENTURY EUROPEAN ART
Auction Total: $9.5 Million

Seth Armitage, Co-Head of Sotheby’s 19th Century European Art Department, commented: “Today’s auction saw strong results that truly express the breadth of the genre, with significant prices achieved for works spanning many different regions and decades of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Results were especially strong for works with storied provenance, notably Mahmoud Being Saddled for the Derby, 1936 by Sir Alfred J. Munnings, a magnificent work from the collection of Marylou Whitney. Bidding was strong across many categories, including sculpture, Academic and Orientalist paintings, with international competition.”

Friday morning’s sale was led by Sir Alfred J. Munning’s Mahmoud Being Saddled for the Derby, 1936, which sold for $3.1 million, one of the top 10 prices achieved by the artist at auction. A highlight from the Collection of Marylou Whitney, the prominent philanthropist, arts patron and thoroughbred breeder, the magnificent canvas memorialized the star stallion’s record-setting Derby victory. Commissioned by Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah, Aga Khan III, Mahmoud’s first owner, the stallion would later retire to the Whitney’s farm in Kentucky, where he sired some of the most important lines in modern American racing. Also on offer from the Whitney Collection, Munning’s My Horse Anarchist, achieved $200,000.

Unseen on the market for over 40 years, William Bouguereau’s masterful Oro Pro Nobis sold for $680,000 (estimate $500/700,000). Painted in 1903, the oil on canvas depicts the Virgin Mary in a similar composition to those used by the Italian Renaissance masters Bouguereau deeply admired, such as Raphael, Andrea del Sarto, and Leonardo da Vinci, and displays Bouguereau’s brilliant technique in recording detail and his commitment to the subject, combining the real and the theological, presenting sublime, spiritual beauty.

Orientalist paintings and sculpture capturing the dynamic landscapes and lives of North Africa, the Middle East, and India performed strongly, led by Edwin Lord Weeks’ Departure for the Hunt, which achieved $162,500 (estimate $80/120,000).

Further highlights included Gustave Courbet’s distinctive and symbolic La Mer Orageuse from the artist’s celebrated wave series, which sold for $536,000 (estimate $500/700,000) and John Atkinson Grimshaw’s atmospheric depiction of the English countryside A Yorkshire Home, which achieved $437,5000 (estimate $350/500,000). The sale also established new auction records for Jules-Émile Saintin among others.
MASTER PAINTINGS & SCULPTURE DAY SALE
Auction Total: $8.6 Million

Thursday’s sale was led by a bronze cast of the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni from the Workshop of Gianlorenzo Bernini, which sold for $572,000 (estimate $350/450,000). Previously in the collection of the Altieri, the family who commissioned Bernini to sculpt his magisterial marble Blessed Ludovica Albertoni for their chapel at S. Franesco a Ripa in 1671, the present work is one of the most important sculptures associated with Bernini to have come onto the market in recent years. Up until yesterday’s auction, the work has been on long term loan to the National Galleries of Scotland.