Dorotheum opens its season for live auctions

VIENNA.- The month of June will encompass the two major spring auction weeks at Dorotheum, which were postponed from April and May. They will feature Ribera, Brueghel, and Eugen von Blaas as well as Egon Schiele, Tamara de Lempicka, Hans Hartung and A. R. Penck.

The two auction weeks will take place from 4 to 10 June 2020 and from 23 to 26 June 2020. The Classic Week will get things underway with Old Masters, 19th century paintings, antiques and jewellery, while the Contemporary Week at the end of June will feature works of modern art and contemporary art as well as wristwatches and pocket watches.

All these auctions are now planned to take place as live auctions, in compliance with all the safety measures in force at the time in question. Bids can be placed in many ways: via live bidding, by telephone, in writing, and via a broker. The artworks will be on public display from 27 May 2020 at the Palais Dorotheum in central Vienna, one of the largest auction houses in the world in terms of space.

Innovative Paintings
Old Master Paintings, auction on 9 June 2020
Outstanding examples of Northern European painting from the 15th to 17th centuries are included in the sale – including a work by Pieter Coecke van der Aelst, once owned by the king of the Netherlands (€ 400,000 – 600,000) and a painting of a Young Woman resting her head by the Anthony Van Dyck (€ 300,000 – 400,000) as well as an important a series of four altar panels from the South German School of circa 1490, which are stylistic close to the early work of Albrecht Dürer (€ 500,000 – 600,000).

Also works by celebrated Italian artists are creating interest for collectors in the auction of Old Master paintings to be held at Dorotheum in Vienna on 9 June 2020, with new discoveries such as the hitherto unpublished painting by Massimo Stanzione, Lot and his Daughters, which comes from a private European collection. It is Stanzione’s only known version of an Old Testament motif in a vertical format. The subject was popular in 17th century Neapolitan painting. The strong colours of the figures´ robes contrast with the depiction of the rocky landscape. Stanzione combined the realism of Caravaggio with the classicism of Guido Reni. This made him one of the most sought-after painters of his age (estimate € 200,000 – 300,000).

Other artists represented in the auction, such as Jusepe de Ribera and Valerio Castello, broke with the established canon of painting. Ribera’s depiction of St. Dominic in penitence is not a standard image, but a creation of elements. Caravaggio’s realism is radically intensified in this image, which was recently part of a Spanish aristocratic collection (€ 300,000 – 400,000). Another painting by Ribera, depicting Saint Joseph, was probably made for a client’s private veneration (€ 250,000 – 350,000).
Valerio Castello was able to give a theatrical effect to the Adoration of the Shepherds through the virtuoso use of colour and the stylistic device of including dynamically rendered form (€ 150,000 – 200,000).

Also of significance is a work by one of the first professional females painters in art history, Lavinia Fontana. The celebrated portraitist was commissioned to paint Gerardo Giavarini at the age of 25, as the inscription reads, when he was appointed a page by Pope Clement VIII. The depiction of Venus and Cupid, which the sitter points to, suggests that the painting was intended for the sitter´s future wife (€ 80,000 – 120,000).

Constantinople, Venice, Nice
19th century paintings, auction on 8 June 2020
Orientalist works are among the major highlights of the auction of 19th century paintings on 8 June 2020. Alberto Pasini’s masterpiece depicting a colourful market scene skilfully captures the atmosphere of summer heat, vibrant garments and elaborate architecture (estimate € 150,000 – 200,000). Pietro Luchini’s elegant lady from Constantinople, on the other hand, is enjoying a moment of leisure away from the noisy hustle and bustle of the streets (€ 100,000 – 150,000). Like Pasini, Bergamo-born Luchini moved to Constantinople and primarily found work there as a portrait painter. Likewise, Eugen von Blaas was drawn to Venice, the place he longed for: the artist, who comes from an Austrian family of painters, spent most of his working life in the Serenissima. Beautiful Venetian women became his most popular subject, with the portrait up for auction being the best proof of this (€ 120,000 – 180,000).

Sparkling pieces from the Art Deco period
Jewellery, auction on 10 June 2020
An exceptional historical piece of jewellery from the 1930s will go under the hammer at the jewellery auction on 10 June 2020. This is a signed Cartier London tiara made from aquamarines, which can also be worn as a necklace. This first-class piece of jewellery has an estimate of 34,000 to 70,000 euros. In total, the auction encompasses more than 20 select pieces of jewellery by Cartier alongside works by Tiffany and Pomellato, as well as exquisite diamonds.