Christie’s Old Masters Sale Totals £54 Million with Sweerts and Rembrandt Records

On July 6, 2023, Christie’s held its Old Masters Part I Sale during London’s Classic Week, achieving £54 million across 11 lots, all exceeding £1 million with few unsold. The sale was preceded by The Exceptional Sale and followed by Remastered: Old Masters from the Collection of J.E. Safra, bringing the Classic Week total to £68.1 million. A previously unseen canvas by Michael Sweerts, The Artist’s Studio with a Seamstress (c. mid-17th century), estimated at £2-3 million, soared to £12,615,000, setting a new auction record for the artist. The last pair of Rembrandt portraits in private hands—Jan Willemsz. van der Pluym and Jaapgen Carels (1635), authenticated by the Rijksmuseum—sold for £11,235,000, more than double the low estimate. El Greco’s Deposition of Christ fetched £6,290,000 (at low estimate), while Fra Angelico’s panel The Crucifixion with the Virgin, Saint John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene reached £5 million, a new auction record for the master. Antonio Canova’s Bust of Helen sold for £3,549,000, and Artemisia Gentileschi’s Allegory of Sculpture surpassed its £300,000 low estimate to achieve £1,855,000. Both Jan Brueghel the Elder and Jan Brueghel the Younger exceeded £1 million. The sale demonstrated strong demand for historic art, with active bidding and contemporary energy.