The sale also includes a number of exceptional Italian paintings, including an incredibly rare early gold-ground of the Madonna and Child by Venetian master Giovanni Bellini, from the collection of the descendants of Anton F. Philips (1874-1951), the great entrepreneur and co-founder of Royal Philips Electronics, where it has remained since it was acquired in 1913 (est. $3/5 million); a newly rediscovered painting on panel, recently identified as Correggio’s long-lost picture of the reclining Magdalen, one of his most celebrated masterpieces, hitherto only known in the form of copies (below, est. $4.5/5.5 million); and a rare portrait by Andrea del Sarto, depicting an elegantly dressed man presumed to be a member of the illustrious Medici family (est. $2/3 million). Two exquisite canvases by Artemisia Gentileschi, a portrait of an elegant and beautiful young woman –  believed to be Caterina Savelli, Principessa di Albano (est. $2/3 million) – and a depiction of Susanna and the Elders (est. $1.8/2.5 million), lead a group of prime works by trailblazing female artists.  Other strong examples include a monumental still life by Anne Vallayer-Coster (est. $1.5/2.5 million), a small and delicate still-life by Rachel Ruysch (est. $80/120,000) and a monumental mythological scene depicting the death of Cenchirias by 19th-century  history painter Sophie Rude (est. $500/700,000). The sale is also distinguished by Nicolas de Largillière’s 18th century masterwork Portrait of a lady as Pomona, possibly the Marquise de Parabère, recently restituted by Dresden State Art Collections to the heirs of the renowned Jewish collector Jules Strauss (est. $1/1.5 million). A separate press release is available.

Master to Master: The Nelson Shanks Collection
27 January, 2pm ET

Sotheby’s is honored to present the collection of Nelson Shanks, the famed American realist painter known for his portraits of international leaders, royals and celebrities. In addition to his prolific artistic practice, in which he painted nearly every day of his entire career, Mr. Shanks was an avid collector of painting, sculpture, drawings, and furniture, with a special affinity for the Italian baroque period. Highlights from the sale include a monumental masterpiece by Neapolitan artist Mattia Preti, with provenance dating back to its commission, a rare mature work by Guido Cagnacci, and a magnificent Venus by Dosso Dossi, which was thought to be lost until Shanks recognized it and acquired it. Shanks delighted in researching new acquisitions, and indeed correctly identified several works sold anonymously at auction: in addition to the Dosso, he recognized the quality of the Scarsellino, Volterrano, and Francesco del Cairo in this sale, all of which were discoveries at the time of acquisition.

In addition to his Old Master collection, the sale will offer a group of never-before exhibited head studies for five commissioned portraits painted by Shanks of Princess Diana, Luciano Pavarotti, Renée Fleming, and Presidents Reagan and Clinton.

Master Works on Paper from Five Centuries
26 January, 10am ET

The second iteration of the new-format Master Works on Paper from Five Centuries sale – first held, with great success, in London last July – again presents a selection of exceptional drawings, watercolours and gouaches that together chart in fascinating ways the development of the art of drawing in Europe over centuries – traveling through the early Italian Renaissance and the Dutch Golden Age to 18th-century France, and even reaching the birth of Modernism in the late 19th century.

The star of the sale, and one of the earliest drawings offered, is an immensely refined and moving, rediscovered Head of a Young Woman Looking Down, drawn by the young Fra Bartolommeo in the late 1490s (est. $400/600,000). This superbly sophisticated and very well-preserved early drawing by the great Florentine master was certainly drawn from life, and has all the intense observation of a portrait, but was surely made to serve as the basis for the figure of the Madonna in a painting.  Here, the features of an individual have been transformed into a more universal image of the symbol of purity, holiness and piety, and the artist’s own intense spirituality is abundantly clear. Carefully and delicately executed, mostly in black chalk and stumping, Fra Bartolommeo’s moving study takes full advantage of the visual possibilities offered by the smooth beige-brown preparation of the paper, a technique that the master often used. The slightly tilted head of the young woman – looking down to the left – is characterized by subtle and delicate volumes, enhanced by the use of the sfumato combined with the rendering of warm sensual skin, achieved by rubbing powdered white chalk into the prepared darker surface. This gives an almost porcelain-like tone to the soft volumes of the face, which acquires an extraordinary luminosity. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the drawing was recorded in two outstanding English collections (those of John Barnard (died 1784) and William Mayor (died 1874)), and it was last seen on the market in 1927, when it was acquired by the grandfather of the present owners at a sale in Amsterdam, for the relatively significant sum of 892.50 guilders.