Rubens' 'Lot and His Daughters' Sells for £44.9M at Christie's

On July 7, 2016, Christie's London sold Peter Paul Rubens' 'Lot and His Daughters' for £44,882,500 during its Old Master & British Paintings Evening Sale. The large canvas (over two meters), painted between 1613 and 1614, was in excellent condition and among the last Rubens works in private hands. The bidding lasted nearly 15 minutes, with three competitors: dealer Bob Haboldt, a client of Christie's Asia president Rebecca Wei, and one of Francis Outred, head of contemporary art. Outred's client won. The painting's provenance includes Antwerp merchant Balthazar Courtois, Maximilian II of Bavaria, Emperor Joseph I of Habsburg, the Dukes of Marlborough, and Baron Maurice de Hirsch de Gereuth. The subject, from the Old Testament, depicts Lot and his daughters after the destruction of Sodom. Christie's did not disclose the estimate, but it was reportedly around £20 million. The auction saw competition between Old Master and contemporary art buyers, with Asia against Europe. Christie's auctioneer Jussi Pylkkänen noted the result showed the power of the right image. Rubens' auction record remains with Sotheby's for 'The Massacre of the Innocents' (£49.5 million in 2002).