ZURICH.- Koller’s spring auctions were highly successful across all departments, with notable prices for Old Masters and 19th century paintings and drawings, as well as for classical antiquities, decorative arts and books & autographs. Overall, total sales reached one and a half times the low estimate, underlining the continued strength of the market, particularly at the upper end.

A remarkable painting by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, signed and dated 1622, was the focus of an intense bidding battle in the 27 March auction. Starting at CHF 200 000, bids rose over the course of a ten-minute bidding contest to a final price of CHF 1.8 million (lot 3027, estimate CHF 300 000 / 500 000). Having remained in the same family for four generations, the painting has now returned to a Swiss private collection.

Works by Jan van Goyen and Salomon van Ruysdael also achieved strong results. The van Goyen sold for CHF 375 000 (lot 3038, estimate CHF 200 000 / 350 000), while the Ruysdael achieved CHF 500 000 (lot 3046, estimate CHF 300 000 / 500 000), both selling to German private collections. A recently rediscovered grisaille by François Boucher, ‘The marriage of Ariadne and Bacchus’, sold for CHF 275 000 (lot 3072, estimate CHF 200 000 / 300 000). A dynamic drawing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard far exceeded expectations, achieving CHF 150 000 (lot 3450, estimate CHF 10 000 / 20 000), selling to a British collection.

Among the 19th century paintings on 27 March, four works by Ivan Konstantinovitch Aivazovsky achieved particularly strong results. A dramatic shipwreck scene on a rocky coast exceeded its upper estimate to achieve CHF 720 000 (lot 3210, estimate CHF 180 000 / 250 000), selling to a bidder from Turkey. A small-format painting of sailing ships near the coast more than doubled its upper estimate, achieving CHF 300 000 (lot 3222, estimate CHF 80 000 / 120 000), selling to a bidder from Hong Kong.

In the Works of Art & Decorative Arts auction on 26 March, a Roman torso of the goddess Venus from the 2nd century CE, known as the Bartholoni Venus, sold for CHF 1.17 million to a Swiss private collector (lot 1050, estimate CHF 500 000 / 800 000). Another highlight was a monumental Coptic wall hanging dating from the 5th–7th century CE, which more than doubled its estimate to achieve CHF 645 000 (lot 1011, estimate CHF 300 000 / 500 000).