PARIS.- Christie’s France started the season with this very successful sale which results went above our expectations. The Top lot of the sale is Christ Salvador Mundi executed by the Antwerp school circa 1520 which sold for €490,000, nearly ten times its pre-sale low estimate.

The Musée de l’armée preempted the portrait of H.R.H Prince Sixte de Bourbon-Parme by Bernard Boutet de Monvel which was sold for €37,500 and the superb collection of Count Robert de Moustier, which included 9 lots, was sold 100% and achieved a total of €325,250.




Pierre Etienne, International director of the Old Master painting department: “We are very proud of the results achieved today and pleased to have seen 1,250 visitors in our viewing rooms for the past week and attending our sale today. These results are very encouraging for all of us and it is a very positive message for the whole art market. These results demonstrate once again that international buyers, from 17 countries, are always attracted by high-quality paintings from private provenances and fresh to the market. Even though Flemish paintings achieved very high prices today, we also saw a strong interest for Italian and French paintings. The important oil on canvas by Hubert Robert, Capriccio with monuments of the city of Nîmes, sold for €274,000, more than doubling its presale low estimate. Further highlights included a charming small oil on panel representing two young girls which sold for €110,000 and an impressive landscape by Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes on its original canvas which sold for €125,000”.

Astrid Centner, Director of the department added: “We are pleased to see the very positive response of the market for early Flemish paintings which realised great results once again, such as for the impressive oil on panel coming from the Oppenheim collection, representing the Christ Salvador Mundi executed by the Antwerp school circa 1520. This striking portrait which is one of the most beautiful example realised by Quentin Metsys’ studio, was acquired for €490,000 against a presale estimate of €50,000-70,000. Another strong result was achieved for the painting depicting Lucretia executed by The Master of the Female Half-Lengths when he was active in Antwerp circa 1520-1550. The painting was sold nearly 4 times its presale estimate and reached €430,000. We can finally mention the result obtained for the Portrait of a man with a ruff realised by the circle of Peter-Paul Rubens circa 1620 which sold for €274,000 against a presale estimate of €12,000-18,000.”

Isabelle d’Amécourt, Director of the Sculpture and European works of art department: “These strong results illustrate the continuing high demand for European sculptures and works of art. This auction, which attracted international buyers, highlighted religious iconography as seen with a limestone carved group of the Virgin and the Child which sold for €200,000, doubling its presale high estimate. Additional highlights included a marble figure of the crouching Venus from the end of the 18th century Italy was sold for €150,000 and also from the 18th century but from Belgian we can mention the price realized for two impressive terracotta sculptures of allegorical figures by Mathieu de Tombay which achieved €68,750”.