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Thursday, December 9, 2010

MYSTERY OLD MASTER MAKES £1.5 MILLION AT BONHAMS IN BOND STREET

A painting of the North transept and Choir Chapel of the Sin Janskerk, Utrecht sold for £1,467,000 in the Old Master Paintings sale yesterday, (8.12.10) at Bonhams, New Bond Street.

There has been much excitement and deliberation over this painting in London this week with dealers and collectors alike debating whether it was by the hand of Pieter Jansz. Saenredam or produced by his studio. 

Having been dismissed as the work of Saenredam by another leading auction house, Bonhams nonetheless proceeded to do further extensive research in collaboration with the four academics who have worked most closely on this artist. Following their advice, as they were unable to catalogue the painting in full, Bonhams described it as ‘Studio of...’ and in accordance with this description gave it a pre-sale estimate of £20,000-30,000. 

However, in the sale, two key buyers were prepared to back their own judgement and the painting finally sold for £1,467,000.  If the painting does prove to be by Pieter Jansz. Saenredam then this would be a world record price for the artist.

Pieter Jansz. Saenredam (1597-1665) was an artist from the Dutch Golden Age of painting and is known for his images of whitewashed church interiors.

Andrew McKenzie, Director of Old Master Paintings, comments, “The painting proved to be a puzzle for most of those clients I spoke to this week who widely declared it to be a difficult picture. Without any full academic endorsement we were obliged to be cautious with our attribution but are, of course, delighted that at least two people thought otherwise and it achieved such a fantastic price.”



Bonhams
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further five throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York and Boston in the USA; Toronto, Canada; and France, Monaco, Hong Kong, Australia and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas. By the end of 2009, Bonhams had become UK market leaders in ten key specialist collecting areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go towww.bonhams.com 

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