Date: Fri 05-Feb-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: SHIRLE

Quick Words:

Master-Christie's

Full Text:

Old Master Drawings At Christie's

(with 12 cuts)

NEW YORK CITY -- A record-breaking sale of Important Old Master drawings

realized $11,377,765 at Christie's on January 28, the highest auction total

ever for a various owner sale in this category to be held in the United

States.

"Cabinet Italien," an important collection of drawings, realized $4,148,000.

The sale was 79 percent sold by lot and 93 percent by value.

After a competitive bidding battle, "Madonna del Popolo" by Federico Barocci

became one of the most expensive drawings ever sold in New York, and the top

lot of the day, when it realized $2,642,500.

The most celebrated of Barocci's drawings, "Madonna del Popolo" served as the

elaborate preparatory drawing for an altar piece in Arezzo, Italy. Noel

Annesley, deputy chairman of Christie's, auctioned the drawing for the second

time in his career. The work was the top lot of Christie's second sale of Old

Master drawings from Chatsworth, in 1987.

"The Life of Taddeo Zuccaro," drawn by his brother, Federico Zuccaro, was the

top lot of "Cabinet Italien" and was acquired for $1,762,500 by the J. Paul

Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The amazingly fresh series of 20 drawings brings

a touching insight into the life of Taddeo, whose life story is illustrated

with enchanting vignettes, which are as compassionate and humorous as they are

technically brilliant and inventive.

"Christie's saleroom was packed to capacity and we saw a large number of new

buyers -- private, trade and institutional -- joining our established clients

in this collecting field," said Francois Borne, head of Old Master drawings.

"Rarity and quality aroused fierce competition. We also saw excellent prices

realized for the less expensive works in the sale, demonstrating again that

this is a growing area in all ranges of the market."

Further highlights of the various owners sale included "Portrait of the Jesuit

Priest Nicolas Trigault in Chinese Costume," 1617, by Sir Peter Paul Rubens

(1577-1640), which sold for $640,500. A rediscovered drawing, "Drapery Study,"

by Lorenzo di Credi (1459-1537), sold for $332,500, a record price at auction

for a work on paper by the artist.

Further records were established for Jacques-Louis David's portrait of his

fellow prisoner, "Joseph-Nicolas Barbeau Dubarran," which sold for $376,500,

and for Annibale Caracci's delicate drawing "A large tree on a rise," which

achieved $288,500.