Sotheby’s to sell 17th Century Dutch Masterpiece
Among the highlights of the January 2010 sale of Old Master Paintings in New York is a monumental masterpiece (48 x 70 in. (122 x 178 cm)) by the great 17th century Dutch artist Hendrick Goltzius, Jupiter and Antiope. Paintings by the artist are extremely rare and the present work is the most important to appear at auction in more than 25 years (est. $8/12 million, £4.8/7.3 million).
Executed in 1612, the painting was formerly in the collection of Abraham Adelsberger (1863-1940), a German Jew who was one of the most successful toy manufacturers of the early 20th century. In the year following Adelsberger’s death, his son-in-law was forced to sell the painting to the Nazi leader Hermann Göring to ensure the safety of his family. The painting was recovered by the Allied forces in 1945 and sent to the Dutch Government. Over the course of the next 64 years, the painting was loaned to three institutions in the Netherlands, including the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, where it hung from 1985 until this year. In March 2009, the painting was restituted to the heirs of its original owner, Abraham Adelsberger.
Jupiter and Antiope is one of a number of large-scale paintings of nudes that Goltzuis executed between 1600 and 1617. The highly charged mythological scene captures the moment before Antiope, the beautiful daughter of Nycteus and Thebes, was seduced by Jupiter in the form of a satyr. The painting is currently on view in London and will be shown in New York beginning 23 January.
