NEW YORK, NY.- On April 21st the attention of collectors was on
Bonhams New York’s European Paintings sale. Offering a wide selection of paintings from many of the most prominent schools of the 19th Century in Europe and featuring a number of collections, the nearly 300 lot sale attracted an international group of bidders.
The top lot of the sale was by Eugène Louis Boudin (French, 1824-1898) titled Bateaux sur la Meuse. Depicting boats in a French harbor, the painting comes from the Corinthian Studios collection and has been exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Art and the Phoenix Art Museum amongst others. An excellent example of Boudin’s work from the 1880s, the lot brought $134,000 against an estimate of $100,000-150,000.
Dramatically outperforming was a piece by Gaetano Bellei (Italian, 1857-1922). The vibrant painting titled In the Theatre features two jovial and luxuriously dressed women posed on the sweeping steps of a grand theater. Sparking a bidding war the painting more than tripled its estimate of $25,000-35,000 achieving the strong price of $107, 360.
A striking work by Adrien Moreau (French, 1843-1906) also surpassed expectations. Titled Concert d'amateurs dans un atelier d'artiste, Moreau’s exquisitely detailed vignette depicts amateur musicians presenting a concert to a well-dress group of ladies and gentlemen in a richly appointed drawing room. Estimated at $20,000-30,000 the painting touched off an aggressive round of bidding and realized an impressive $70,150.
The Raid, by Adolf Schreyer (German, 1828-1899) also drew bidder attention. From the distinguished JZ Knight collection, the painting depicting a group of Arabs preparing for battle brought $54,900 against an estimate of $50,000-70,000.
The collection of paintings offered by the Woodmere Art Museum in Philadelphia were hotly sought-after by collectors. Most sold within or above their estimates and two works achieved very strong prices. A dramatic depiction of Saint Praxedes preserving the blood of the martyrs attributed to Bernardino Mei (Italian, 1615-1676) well exceed its estimate of $25,000-35,000 with a final price of $48,800. The somber study for The Last Sleep of the Condemned Man by Mihály Munkácsy (Hungarian, 1844-1900) soared past its presale estimate of $25,000-35,000, ultimately selling for $48,000
Many lots far exceeded their pre-sale estimates, among them a Heywood Hardy (British, 1842-1933) piece titled Refreshments (est. $20,000-30,000) which brought $36,600; a Victor Pierre Huguet (French, 1835-1902) work depicting an Arab in a doorway (est. $20,000-30,000) which realized $36,600; and a piece by Evariste Carpentier (Belgian, 1845-1922) titled The noon hour ($15,000-20,000) that achieved $33,550.
