2009 proved to be the second most successful year in the Dorotheum’s history and there is every reason to expect that 2010 will likewise turn into a highly successful year, especially in light of the superlative items presented at the first major Dorotheum Auction Week. Among these will be a newly discovered first-rate painting by Guercino, a breathtakingly modern male nude by Cagnacci, two views of the Prater Gardens by Tina Blau, as well as a devilishly beautiful allegory on virtue and vice by Frans Francken.
From the 20th to the 22nd of April, art lovers and collectors will be spoiled for choice with a sumptuous selection of old master paintings, 19th century paintings, jewellery and antiques. The latter category will cover two separate events with furniture and silver presented on the 21st April and sculpture as well as glass and porcelain on the 22nd April. A second major auction week focusing on modern and contemporary art, art nouveau, and design is scheduled to take place in May.
Auction Week I:
20 to 22 April 2010
Public Viewing:
from 10 April 2010
Venue:
PALAIS DOROTHEUM, Wien 1, Dorotheergasse 17
Press Office:
Mag. Doris Krumpl, Tel. + 43-1-515 60-406, [email protected]
Heaven and Hell
Discoveries at the Old Masters Auction on 21st April 2010
Good and evil, angel and devil, virtue and vice, love and treason – these are just some of the basic dichotomies mankind has made use of in mythology, religion, and elsewhere to fathom the fundamental mystery of existence. The subject finds itself richly illustrated at the Dorotheum auction of old master paintings on 21 April 2010.
An opulent large-format painting by Frans Francken II. (Antwerp 1581 – 1642) depicts the struggle between good and evil: Man Choosing between Virtue and Vice encompasses a detailed panopticon of humanity and human frailty, both on earth and on the lower planes of hell. It also offers a glimpse of the divine. The central figure with pilgrim’s staff and satchel symbolises the pilgrimage-like nature of the human life. This anima christiana is flanked by the Catholic virtues of Faith, Love, and Hope and by some of the virtuous heroes of classical antiquity, Hercules and Minerva. At the same time various vices, embodied by Venus, Mercury, and Bacchus try to cast their spell over the anima character (estimate on request).
A dramatic moment in the career of one famously virtuous hero has been captured by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, better known as Il Guercino, in a scene based on Torquato Tasso’s crusader epic Jerusalem Delivered: Rinaldo Restraining Armida from Wounding Herself with an Arrow. Armida, an enchantress sent by Satan and the Saracens, was supposed employ her charms to lead the crusader prince Rinaldo astray from the path of Christian militant virtue and to enchant him on an island. When Rinaldo finally has to depart the island, he keeps Armida, who has fallen in love with him, from killing herself in her sorrow. The re-discovered painting, formerly part of the Venetian Manfrin Collection, is expected to fetch 400.000 to 600.000 Euro. Guercino painted this canvas shortly before his death; more than 50 years earlier he had created a complete Rinaldo-and-Armida cycle for the Casa Pannini near Cento (Ferrara) which can be viewed at the public pinacotheca of Cento.
Among several other highlights will be a reclining male nude (The Drunken of Noah) using a spectacularly modern point-of-view, by Guido Cagnacci (€ 80.000 – 120.000), as well as a newly discovered Silenus and Centaurs in an expansive River Landscape by Abraham Brueghel (€ 65.000 – 90.000) or a light-drenched View of Piazza San Marco by Bernardo Bison (€ 80.000 – 120.000). A different sort of Venice impression is contributed by the German painter Joseph Heintz the Younger, who died there in 1678. His painting of a Renaissance regatta on the Grande Canal unusually also shows women at the oars (€ 100.000 – 150.000). Venice, this time the Isola di San Giorgio, once again takes centre stage in an oil painting by the Venetian painter Francesco Albotto (€ 80.000 – 100.000). The auction also offers a Portrait of a bearded Man with beret by the North Italian artist Giovanni Gerolamo Savoldo (ca. 1480/85 – 1548) whose style shows the influence of Giorgione and Giovanni Bellini (€ 180.000 – 220.000).
Auction:
Old Master Paintings, Wednesday, 21. April 2010 5:00 and 6:30 P.M.
Experts:
Prof. Dr. Peter Wolf, Dr. Alexander Graf Strasoldo, Mark McDonnell, Tel. + 43-1-515 60-556, [email protected]
Greener Pastures
Two Prater Garden paintings by Tina Blau and numerous international top paintings at the 19th Century Painting Auction on 20th April
A famous Viennese song describes the blossoming of the trees in the Prater Gardens and how this heralds the longed-for advent of spring. On 20 April 2010, the Dorotheum auction of 19th century paintings will offer two top paintings by Tina Blau, a proponent of so-called ‘mood impressionism’ (Stimmungsimpressionismus), that portray her favourite subject: the trees in the Prater Gardens. One of the paintings shows the Rotunda, the other depicts the painter’s studio in the Prater. “Blau paintings of such quality only very rarely become available these days”, comments the Dorotheum expert Dimitra Reimüller. The painting featuring the characteristic Rotunda is valued at between 150.000 and 220.000 Euro, the one with the studio at between 80.000 and 120.000 Euro.
Following a highly successful year 2009, the Dorotheum’s 19th century painting category expects to continue in the same style with a first-rate selection. Two paintings of ship and water scenes both promise to fascinate collectors in their own way: The stormy version is by the Russian painter Ivan Konstantin Aivasovksy (€ 30.000 – 40.000), while a quieter but equally expressive view is by Gustave Courbet whose Clouds over lake Geneva are signed and dated 1873 (€ 90.000 – 150.000).
Luxuriating in their youth, the many young ladies in After the Game are shown relaxing in a green meadow. An exhibition catalogue describes them as “graceful girls from the Veneto” and distinguished these “simple and demure country girl” favourably from the “polished charms of academic Renaissance models”. This 1887 painting of “singular symbolic expressiveness” by Fausto Zonaro is valued at between 100.000 and 150.000 Euro.
The auction also includes a particularly fine range of Oriental themed paintings, such as Giulio Rosati’s water-colour Resting during a Desert Crossing (€ 18.000 – 20.000).
Auction:
19th Century Paintings, Tuesday, 20 April 2010, 5:00 P.M.
Experts:
Mag. Dimitra Reimüller, Dr. Christl Wolf, Tel. + 43-1-515 60-355, [email protected]
Antiques
21st and 22nd April 2010
Baroque Splendour in Furniture Form, 21 April
The furniture category presents a sensational selection of items at the auction on 21 April, such as a Late Baroque commode with curved corpus from Naples (€ 30.000 – 40.000) or a pair of splendid console tables in the form of golden eagles from England (€ 60.000 – 70.000). An unusual Biedermeier writing set takes the form of a respectable gentleman carrying a frame supporting the ink pots and according to a vignette fragment was produced by the “Danhauser’schen Möbelfabrik”, Vienna, in circa 1820 (€ 6.000 – 7.000). Other outstanding items include a Freemason table covered in symbols (€ 20.000 – 26.000) and a two meter tall Roman mirror (€ 32.000 – 36.000).
The Royalty of Silver, 21 April
Using precious materials like white agate, onyx, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, etc., the Rauch Firm from Hanau (Hessen/Germany) created a silver chess set measuring 80 x 80 cm, with castles pieces standing 30 cm, and the King piece 19 cm tall (€ 20.000 – 30.000). This literally ‘royal’ game manufactured round the middle of the past century will feature at the silver auction on 21 April. A pair of enamelled candelabra with gilt silver mount will also shine at the event (Vienna, ca. 1870, € 20.000 – 30.000).
Double Act for Glass and Porcelain, 22 April
The glass and porcelain auction on 22 April is proud to present a number of small-scale Meissen figures dating to circa 1745, the earliest period of (European) porcelain. Among the figures are a fisherman and a fisherwoman (€ 20.000 – 30.000), a dancing peasant couple (€ 16.000 – 26.000), or a fisherwoman made in 1748 and based on a J. J. Kändler model of ca. 1741 (€ 10.000 – 15.000). Two Russian ordinance figures serving red wine and bread bear the mark of Tsarina Catherine II (1762 –1796) and are valued at 12.000 to 20.000 Euro each.
Coming from Vienna are a 1796 lidded vase „Frankfurt am Main“ decorated with vedutas and gilt bronze manufactured at the Vienna Imperial Manufactory (height: 48 cm, € 17.000 – 30.000)., two Ranft cups by Anton Kothgasser (1769 – 1851), a friendship beaker 8.000 – 12.000), and an allegory of Hungary (€ 12.000 – 20.000).
Oh Madonna! Sculpture, 22 April
Radiating grace and charm, a Virgin and Child in a Florentine stucco relief comes from the studio of Antonio Rossellino and dates to circa 1470 (€ 25.000 – 35.000) while a sculptural version of the Virgin and Child motif dates to between 1480 and 1500 (height: 80 cm, € 40.000 – 50.000).
Auction:
Furniture, Silver, 21 April 2010, 2:00 and 3:00 P.M., Sculpture, Glass and Porcelain, 22 April 2010, 2:00 and 3:00 P.M.
Experts:
Furniture: U. Prinz, A. Doczy, G. Minichreiter, Tel. + 43-1-515 60-291, [email protected]
Sculpture: Christine Masser, Tel. +43-1-515 60-331, [email protected]
Silver: Dr. Georg Ludwigstorff, Tel. +43-1-515 60-363, [email protected]
Glass and Porcelain: Ursula Rohringer, Tel. +43-1-51560-382, [email protected]
All Ears
Attractive Ear Ornaments and much else at the Jewellery Auction on 22nd April
Bedizening the ear and bedazzling the eye, the platinum ear pendants set with brilliants, diamonds, and South Sea cultured pearls promise to be one of the highlights of the jewellery auction on 22 April (€ 40.000 – 60.000). Dating to around 1900, a set of gold and silver amethyst ear pendants are said to have belonged to Stephanie of Belgium, the wife of Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria.
Large sized stones, not least because of their investment value, have been much sought after in recent years. One brilliant set in a platinum ring weighs in at 5,5 carat (€ 45.000 – 60.000), while a white-gold necklace is set with one 1,5 carat brilliant and diamonds with a total weight of 18 carat (€ 25.000 – 35.000).
Auction:
Jewellery, 22 April 2010, 6:00 P.M.
Expert:
Mag. Astrid Fialka-Herics, Tel. +43-1-515 60-567, [email protected]
