Old Masters at Christie’s: What’s on in New York

An important change to the sale calendar, a preview of our Old Master Drawings auction, and two important exhibitions at Rockefeller Center

Classic Art at Christie’s
12-14 April 2016, Christie’s New York

This April, for the first time, Classic Art at Christie’s will transform Rockefeller Center into a museum of classical art.

From 12-14 April a series of five sales will present outstanding examples of works from antiquity through to the 19th century. A highlight of Christie’s sales calendar, Old Master Paintings Part I and II will now take place on 14 April, following Antiquities (12 April), Sculpture (13 April) and our signature Exceptional Sale of decorative arts (13 April). The auctions will be on view at 8-14 April at Rockefeller Center

Louis-Léopold Boilly, Tennis court, Estimate: $400,000-600,000. This work is offered in the Revolution sale on 13 April 2016 at Christie’s New York

At the centre of this series is Revolution (13 April), a major curated auction featuring masterworks from the 18th and 19th centuries — including paintings, drawings, prints, photography and sculpture — each exploring the radical social, political and artistic changes that defined this period of history.

Old Master and British Drawings
27 January (Preview 23-27 January), Christie’s New York

Featuring works from the late 15th to the 19th century, Christie’s Old Master and British Drawings auction offers exceptional works from Italian, French, British, Flemish and Dutch schools, and architectural drawings from the collection of Paul Walter.

‘Among the earliest works are rare examples by Marcantonio Raimondo and Giovanni Francesco Penni — both artists in the circle of Raphael,’ says Christie’s specialist Jennifer Wright. ‘Dutch artists are well-represented, with works by Maarten van Heemskerck and Adriaen van de Velde, and there are drawings by Britain’s most important draughtsmen, from Samuel Palmer to John Constable and J.M.W. Turner.’ There are 131 lots, with pre-sale estimates ranging from $800 to $200,000.

Old Master Paintings: A Private Selling Exhibition
22 January – 7 February, Christie’s New York

Jan van Kessel I (1626-1679), Garden and house spiders with grass snakes and caterpillars contorted and entwined to spell the artist’s name. Oil on copper. Signed with insects and animals ‘JoAn vAn / Kessel’ (center) and dated ‘Fecit. Anno. 1657’ (lower right). 6 x 7 7/8 in. (15 x 20 cm.)

Alongside our auctions, Private Selling Exhibitions provide visitors to Christie’s with the chance to see a changing display of artworks, jewellery and ceramics, with tailored advice available for those who wish to buy, whether they are seasoned collectors or those looking to acquire their first work.

Opening at Christie’s New York on 22 January, Old Master Paintings: A Private Selling Exhibition will see a superb range of European pictures come to the city’s Rockefeller Center, in collaboration with the art world’s principal Old Master Paintings dealers.

Spanning a period from 1400 to 1900, the exhibition will feature works by artists including Lucas Cranach, Jan van Kessel, Jan Provoost, Gaspar van Wittel and Richard Parkes Bonington. It offers a chance to view the world of Old Masters through the discerning eye of the dealer, and coincides with the traditional New York Old Masters Week. The view will be open to the public in the new West Galleries.

Royal Drawing School: A Private Selling Exhibition
23 January — 7 February, Christie’s New York

Opening on 23 January, this is the first exhibition of works from The Royal Drawing School ever to be held in the US. Comprising more than 70 works by alumni, faculty and artists closely associated with the Royal Drawing School, this selling exhibition will benefit the School’s Scholarship Fund. Although works exhibited are by contemporary artists, they are testimony to the importance drawing has held in artistic practice from the Renaissance to today, with artists such as Glenn Brown revisiting drawn works first created centuries ago.

Established in 2000 by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, the London-based school specialises in the study of drawings from observation, and offers two full-time courses with no tuition fees: the graduate-level Drawing Year for up to 30 students, and the Foundation Year for 45 school-leavers. A Young Artists programme also provides tuition for more than 200 children, and there are more than 50 courses each term open to the public.

Main image at top: Jean Baptiste Siméon Chardin (1699-1779), A copper saucepan, a pestle and mortar, a pitcher, a scallion, eggs and an onion on a shelf (detail). Oil on canvas. Signed 'chardin' (lower left). 15 x 18 3/8 in. (38.1 x 46.7 cm.). Estimate: $700,000-900,000. This work is offered in the Old Masters Paintings sale on 14 April 2016 at Christie’s in London

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