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Prices
by Ivan Lindsay
Outside the trade and the well informed collector, old master prices remain something of a mystery. Among the most commonly asked questions of anyone involved in the art world are how can you tell what a certain painting is worth? or how can such and such painting be worth that much? These questions, along with the press coverage of record prices paid for paintings, indicate the general public’s fascination with the price of paintings.
The value of a painting is based on supply and demand and establishing such supply and demand takes knowledge and experience. Dealers and employees of the auction houses have a good idea of a painting’s value and despite the fact that paintings which sell considerably over the estimate receive good press coverage, most paintings sold at auction do actually sell within their estimate.
When assessing this supply and demand, among the factors to be taken into consideration are:
- How common are works by this artist?
- How many works of this type by the artist remain in private hands and are likely to come on to the market?
- How many different purchasers are interested in this type of painting?
- What sort of purchasers are interested in this type of painting, for example museum, private, corporate?
- Is this a good example of the artist’s work from a good period of his oeuvre?
It takes many years of experience to be able accurately to apply this exercise to a painting. Both auction rooms and dealers are normally happy to give collectors the benefit of their experience. Although the auction rooms currently take a commission from both buyer and seller, their primary responsibility is to the seller.
When a collector is faced with a potential purchase he or she has to decide what to pay. If the painting is with a dealer or private owner, then they have to decide if the price is a fair one. If the painting is shortly coming up at auction, then a decision has to be made on how much to bid.
The issue of how much to bid is always difficult. Most new collectors are influenced by the estimate, that is the amount the auction room thinks is the correct range for the painting. However, with more experience, the collector will normally make up their mind on the painting’s value applying some of the criteria described above. Sometimes the estimate is far too high because an unreasonable vendor has forced the auction room to put an artificial reserve on the painting. Sometimes the estimate is too low as the auction room is encouraging more people to have a bid whilst believing the painting will sell for much more.
A general rule of thumb is that medium and lesser quality paintings will sell around the estimate, whereas anything of higher quality will often sell for much more. Thus, if a collector is attempting to buy an exceptional work, they should steel themselves to pay considerably more than an already high estimate, because quality is what the market wants and what attracts the stiff competition from other well-informed and deep-pocketed buyers.
Curious formulae and over-complicated bidding strategies can often cause the collector problems. It is important to keep strategy as simple as possible. The amount to bid should be settled prior to the sale. The auctioneer will always try, often succesfully, to generate an atmosphere of excitement whereby it is easy for everybody to get carried away and bid more than originally intended. Although difficult to adhere to, it is a very sound discipline to attempt to bid only what was decided prior to the sale. Partly to avoid getting carried away, collectors often leave their bid with a dealer to execute for them rather than attend a sale themselves.
Rembrandt's Titus
An example of an overcomplicated bidding strategy going badly astray was the sale of Rembrandt’s Titus from the collection of Sir Francis Cook in 1970. With stiff competition from Peter Wilson at Sotheby’s, Christies managed to secure the painting for auction. Prior to the auction there was enormous publicity because of the amazing story of how Titus had come into England:
Around 1815, George Barker, the restorer and dealer of Lord Spencer, missed a boat from Holland to England and spent the night in a farmhouse outside the Hague. Hanging above his bed was Rembrandt’s charming portrait of his son Titus which he managed to acquire from the farmer the following morning for a shilling (i.e. 5p in today's money). Earl Spencer was delighted with the painting as was his wife Lavinia who said This painting must never leave the house. The painting stayed at Althorp until acquired by Sir Herbert Cook for his important collection at Doughty House, Richmond before descending to his son, Sir Francis.
Norton Simon, the founder of Hunts Food Corporation in California, formed a collection of outstanding old master and impressionist paintings which are now housed at the museum named after him in Pasadena, Los Angeles. He had nearly acquired Titus a few years before for £650,000 from Sir Francis through the London dealers, Agnews, before the deal fell through. When Christies approached him he expressed a cautious interest and gave some specific instructions. He would fly over and requested to be met by a Christies employee holding the Financial Times, wearing dark glasses and driving a Rolls Royce. He wanted to see the painting when he arrive irrespective of the time; he duly arrived at Christies after midnight in the hired Rolls.
After a quick look at the painting he gave some very specific bidding instructions to Patrick Lindsay, the then head of Christies Old Master Paintings Department. Lindsay tried to explain the possible dangers of such a complicated strategy but Norton Simon insisted on it and had him write down two copies of the instruction. If Simon was successful then the painting would be knocked down to Autolycus, Simon’s nom de vente. Autolycus, son of Mercury, obviously appealed to Simon as he was the craftiest of thieves in Greek mythology.
Simon dictated a memorandum to Lindsay which they both duly signed. It reads as follows: - Autolycus, Friday March 19th, Rembrandt, Lot 105, Portrait of Titus,
When Mr. Simon is sitting down he is bidding. If he bids openly when sitting down he is also bidding. When he stands up he has stopped bidding. If he sits down again he is not bidding until he raises his finger. Having raised his finger he is continuing to bid until he stands up again.
Norton Simon arrived at Christies the following morning at 10:40 am, twenty minutes before the sale, where he was shown up to the office of the Chairman, Peter Chance. Under pressure from Chance, Simon further modified the arrangement agreeing that he should be regarded as bidding as long as he remained seated, that he would make no sign or call to indicate that he had finished bidding. Chance and Lindsay had only the briefest moment to discuss this before Chance went onto the Rostrum.
The bidding rapidly reached 300,000 guineas at which point, in direct contradiction to the agreement, Simon sitting in the second row beside his dealer Dudley Tooth, starting bidding himself and took the bidding up to 650,000 guineas. Simon then appeared to drop out and a bidding war erupted between Sir Geoffrey Agnew and David Somerset (now Duke of Beaufort). At 740,000 guineas Agnew dropped out leaving Somerset the buyer as the hammer came down. Chance had asked Simon seven times before bringing down the hammer whether he would offer any more and Simon said nothing.
When the hammer came down in favour of David Somerset of the Marlborough Gallery Norton Simon sprung to his feet saying Hold it, Hold it to which Chance replied No, I said quite clearly against you for the last time. Simon read out his agreement whilst Somerset insisted that the hammer had came down. After argument, Peter Chance resorted to Conditions of Sale, Clause I which reads The highest bidder to be buyer; and if any dispute arises between two or more bidders the lot, so in dispute, shall be immediately put up again and resold.
Chance reopened the bidding and Norton Simon duly bid 760,000 guineas to secure the lot whilst Somerset refused to bid. This was £798,000 ($2.2 million) and the highest price for a painting sold in Britain. In the furore that followed the sale, legal action was threatened but not undertaken.
The above story is related for the collector as a lesson in keeping auction procedure as simple as possible.
Auction houses
The estimate is primarily of use to give the collector a rough idea of the reserve, that is the price fixed between the auctioneer and the consignor, below which the auctioneer cannot sell the painting. This reserve is normally slightly below the low estimate.
If the painting fails to sell by not reaching its reserve, then it is ‘bought in’ and will be returned unsold to the vendor. This then gives a collector the chance to make an ‘after-sale’ offer. These ‘after-sale’ negotiations go on after every auction. The buyers are keen to get a bargain and the auctioneers are keen to unload a painting with which they otherwise would have failed as it is difficult for them to re-auction it for some time. However, this is a risky practise for the collector because there is a chance, by playing this game of brinkmanship, that the painting will have sold to a genuine bidder on or around the reserve because the reserve was set at a lower value than was apparent. In some auctions, particularly in the countryside, the auctioneer sometimes tries to help the buyer by telling him that there is a genuine bidder above the reserve by saying something along the lines of, I am selling at ...., any more bids?
The auctioneer's first duty of care is towards his seller. Equally, his commission is based on the hammer price, so he tries to sell for the highest price possible.
Collectors often seem to have their own curious formula on how they arrive at their final bid. An example of such a formula might be to take the mid estimate, halve it, add it to the mid estimate and that should be the top bid. Such formulae might work for derivatives trading but not for art acquisition. Dealers and experienced collectors have learnt to be more value-driven and will sometimes pay ten or even twenty times over the estimate should the painting warrant it.
Buying at auction is a very complicated business for which the collector should really get top advice to avoid the numerous pitfalls. Prices at dealers tend to be higher because the dealer puts his reputation on the line with every picture he sells. The dealer will have taken care with framing and restoration and properly researched the attribution. Buying from a dealer can be done at a slower pace whereas decisions have to be made extremely fast when a painting is coming up at auction. Dealers will normally either take back a painting if the collector changes his mind, or help him sell it on. Collectors have little right of recourse against an auction room, as can be seen by reading the disclaimers in the catalogue small print.
Most collectors buy both at auction and from dealers. It is strongly advised that collectors should get the best independent advice before buying at auction, just as they might if buying a house or car in this manner. Price should be considered in terms of value and the more exceptional a painting in terms of rarity and quality, the more over the accepted odds a collector should be prepared to pay in order to secure it. A collector should remember that future buyers will probably apply similar criteria to his or her painting should they ever wish to sell it. As with all things, collectors should buy the best that they can afford to obtain the most life-enhancing and rewarding paintings.
Top prices
Until 1970 Old Masters dominated the higher echelons of the market. In 1965 Rembrandt’s Portrait of Titus set a new world record of £789,000 after the already-discussed bidding débâcle with Norton Simon.
In 1970 Juan de Pareja by Velazquez, set a new world record of £2.3 m ($5.5m). Since then the highest prices have belonged to Impressionist paintings. This was partly due to fashion and partly due to a scarcity of really good old masters. Although a large number of the best paintings are sold privately, it is easier to use auction statistics which are available from a variety of sources for making price comparisons. The list of the top thirty prices ever achieved for paintings at auctions looks like:
| Artist | Title | Auction House | Location | Date | Record Price | |
| 1 | GOGH, Vincent van (1853-1890) Dutch | Portrait du Dr. Gachet | Christies | New York | May 15th 1990 | $75,000,000 £44,378,696 |
| 2 | RENOIR, Pierre Auguste (1841-1919) French | Au Moulin de la Galette | Sotheby’s | New York | May 17th 1990 | $71,000,000 £42,011,832 |
| 3 | PICASSO, Pablo (1881-1973) Spanish | Les noces de Pierrette | Binoche et Godeau |
Paris | 30-Nov-89 | $51,671,920 £33,123,028 (F.Fr315,000,000). |
| 4 | PONTORMO, Jacopo (1493-1558) Italian | Portrait of Duke Cosimo I de Medici | Christie’s | New York | 31-May-89 | $32,000,000 £20,253,164 |
| 5 | CEZANNE, Paul (1839-1906) French | Nature morte - les grosses pommes | Sotheby’s | New York | 11-May 93 | $26,000,000 £16,993,464 |
| 6 | MANET, Edouard (1832-1883) French | La rue Mosnier aux drapeaux | Sotheby’s | New York | 14-Nov-89 | $24,000,000 £5,483,872 |
| 7 | GAUGUIN, Paul (1848-1903) French | Mata Mua, in olden times | Sotheby’s | New York | 9-May-89 | $22,000,000 £13,496,934 |
| 8 | MONET, Claude (1840-1926) French | Dans la prairie | Sotheby’s | New York | 28-Jun-88 | $21,840,000 £13,000,000 |
| 9 | CONSTABLE, John (1776-1837) British | The lock | Sotheby’s | London | 14-Nov-90 | $19,306,000 £9,800,000 |
| 10 | KANDINSKY, Wassily (1866-1944) Russian | Fugue | Sotheby’s | New York | 17-May-90 | $19,000,000 £11,242,604 |
| 11 | KOONING, Willem de (1904-1997) American/Dutch. | Interchange | Sotheby’s | New York | 8-Nov-89 | $18,800,000 £11,898,735 |
| 12 | CANALETTO, (1697-1768) Italian | The Old Horse Guard, London, from St James’s Park | Christie’s | London | 15-Apr-92 | $16,008,000 £9,200,000 |
| 13 | JOHNS, Jasper (1930-) American. | False start | Sotheby’s | New York | 10-Nov-88 | $15,500,000 £8,611,112 |
| 14 | GUARDI, Francesco (1712-1793) Italian | Vue de la Giudecca et du Zattere a Venise | Sotheby’s | Monaco | 1-Dec-89 | $13,943,218 £ 8,937,960 (F.Fr850,000,000) |
| 15 | CHAGALL, Marc (1887-1985) French/Russian | Anniversaire | Sotheby’s | New York | 17-May-90 | $13,500,000 £7,988,166 |
| 16 | LEGER, Fernand (1881-1955) French | Contrastes de formed | Christie’s | London | 27-Nov-89 | $13,260,000 £8,500,000 |
| 17 | MATISSE, Henri (1869-1954) French | Harmonie jaune | Christie’s | New York | 11-Nov-92 | $13,200,000 £8,741,723 |
| 18 | TITIAN, (c. 1488-1576) Italian | Venus and Adonis, | Christie’s | London | 13-Dec-91 | $12,376,000 £6,800,000 |
| 19 | TOULOUSE-LAUTREC, Henri de (1864-1901) French | Fille a la fourrure, Mademoiselle Jeanne Fontaine | Christie’s | New York | 15-May-90 | $11,800,000 £6,982,249 |
| 20 | DEGAS, Edgar (1834-1917) French. | Les Blanchisseuses, Les Repasseuses | Christie’s | London | 30-Nov-87 | $11,696,000 £6,800,000 |
| 21 | MODIGLIANI, Amadeo (1884-1920) Italian. | Nu assis au collier | Christie’s | New York | 10-May-95 | $11,300,000 £7,197,452 |
| 22 | VLAMINCK, Maurice de (1876-1958) French. | Les pecheurs a Nanterre | Guy Loudner | Paris | 25-Mar-90 | $10,721,805 £6,659,506 (F Fr62,000,000) |
| 23 | KLIMT, Gustav (1862-1918) Austrian. | Dame mit Facher | Sotheby’s | New York | 11-May-94 | $10,600,000 £7,066,667 |
| 24 | POLLOCK, Jackson (1912-1956) American. | Number 8, 1950 | Sotheby’s | New York | 2-May-89 | $10,500,000 £6,325,302 |
| 25 | SARGENT, John Singer (1856-1925) British/American. | Cashmere | Sotheby’s | New York | 5-Dec-96 | $10,100,000 £6,158,537 |
| 26 | REMBRANDT (1606-1669) Dutch. | Portrait of a girl, wearing a gold-trimmed cloak | Sotheby’s | London | 10-Dec-86 | $9,372,000 £6,600,000 |
| 27 | TURNER, Joseph Mallord William (1775-1851) British. | Seascape, Folkestone | Sotheby’s | London | 5-Jul-84 | $9,045,000 £6,700,000 |
| 28 | DERAIN, André (1880-1954) French. | Bateaux dans le Port, Collioure | Christie’s | London | 26-Jun-89 | $8,792,000 £5,600,000 |
| 29 | MONDRIAN, Piet (1872-1944) Dutch. | Facade in tan and grey | Sotheby’s | New York | 15-Nov-89 | $8,750,000 £5,645,162 |
| 30 | BRAQUE, Georges (1882-1963) French | Femme lisant | Sotheby’s | London | 2-Dec-86 | $8,640,000 £6,000,000 |
It can be seen that only seven old masters feature in the top thirty paintings (Pontormo, Constable, Canaletto, Guardi, Titian, Rembrandt, Turner). This is really a question of availability. Demand has chased the Old Masters since they were painted, whereas the Impressionists did not come of age until the 1970s. The top ten of all time contains six either Impressionist or Post Impressionist and the three most important Post Impressionists, Gauguin, Cezanne and Van Gogh are represented in the top ten. However the Impressionists and Post Impressionists are now suffering from the same problems of supply as the Old Masters. As the works by the great masters of any era dry up as they are drawn into museums or impregnable private collections, the market chases the works of the more minor masters.
Top twenty Old Master prices at auction
| 1 | PONTORMO, Jacopo (1493-1558), Italian. $32,000,000 £20,253,164 Portrait of Duke Cosimo I de Medici, 31-May-89, Christie’s, New York. |
| 2 | CONSTABLE, John (1776-1837) British. $19,306,000 £9,800,000 The lock, 14-Nov-90, Sotheby’s, London. |
| 3 | CANALETTO (1697-1768) Italian. $16,008,000 £9,200,000 The Old Horse Guards, London, from St James’s Park, 15-Apr-92, Christie’s, London. |
| 4 | GUARDI, Francesco (1712-1793) Italian. $13,943,218 £8,937,960 Vue de la Giudecca et du Zattere a Venise, 1-Dec-89, Sotheby's, Monaco (F.Fr850,000,000). |
| 5 | TITIAN, (c. 1488-1576) Italian. $12,376,000 £6,800,000 Venus and Adonis, 13-Dec-91, Christie’s, London. |
| 6 | REMBRANDT (1606-1669) Dutch. $9,372,000 £6,600,000 Portrait of a girl, wearing a gold-trimmed cloak, 10-Dec-86, Sotheby’s, London. |
| 7 | TURNER, Joseph Mallord William (1775-1851) British. $9,045,000 £6,700,000 Seascape, Folkestone, 5-Jul-84, Sotheby’s, London. |
| 8 | BELLOTTO, Bernardo (1720-1780) Italian. $5,642,000 £3,100,000 Fortress of Konigstein, 11-Dec-91, Sotheby’s, London. |
| 9 | VELAZQUEZ, Diego Rodriguez de Silva y (1599-1660) Spanish. $5,524,000 £2,310,000 Portrait of Juan de Pareja, 27-Nov-70, Christie’s, London. |
| 10 | CRANACH, Lucas (elder) (1472-1553) German. $7,920,000 £4,400,000 Portraits of Kurfurst Johann von Sachsen and son Johann Friedrich, 6-Jul-90, Christie’s, London. |
| 11 | RAPHAEL, 16th C. (1483-1520) Italian. $7,920,000 £4,800,000 Study for head and hand of an Apostle (drawing), 13-Dec-96, Christie’s, London. |
| 12 | GOYA Y LUCIENTES, Francisco José de (1746-1828) Spanish. $7,020,000 £4,500,000 Bullfight - Suerte de varas, 15-Jan-88, Sotheby’s, London. |
| 13 | HEEM, Jan Davidsz de (1606-1684) Dutch. $6,000,000 £3,389,830 Banquet still life, 15-Jan-88, Christie’s, New York. |
| 14 | CUYP, Albert (1620-1691) Dutch. $5,852,000 £3,800,000 Orpheus charming the animals, 6-Jul-94, Sotheby’s, London. |
| 15 | AGASSE, Jacques Laurent (1767-1849) Swiss. $5,810,000 £3,500,000 Two leopards playing in the Exeter Change Menagerie in 1808 15-Jul-88, Christie’s, London. |
| 16 | GERRICAULT, Théodore (1791-1824) French. $5,249,210 £3,364,879 Portrait de Laure Bro, nee de Comeres, 3-Dec-89, Sotheby’s. Monaco (F Fr32,000,000). |
| 17 | DELACROIX, Eugène (1789-1863) French. $5,000,000 £3,225,807 Les Natchez, 14-Nov-89, Christie’s, New York. |
| 18 | RUBENS, Sir Peter Paul (1577-1640) Flemish. $4,740,000 £3,000,000 Forest at dawn with deer hunt, 8-Dec-89, Christie’s, London. |
| 19 | STUBBS, George (1724-1806) British. $4,611,000 £2,900,000 Portrait of the royal tiger, 8-Jun-95, Christie’s, London. |
| 20 | RIBERA, Jusepe de (1588-1656) Spanish. $4,500,000 £2,500,000 The Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew, 4-Jul-90, Sotheby’s, London. |
The list of the top twenty Old Master prices shows a wide range of artists from the Renaissance (Pontormo, Titian, Cranach, Raphael) to the Baroque (Rembrandt, Velazquez, Cuyp, Rubens, de Heem, Ribera) to the Eighteenth century vedute painters (Canaletto, Guardi, Bellotto), to the general Eighteenth century (Stubbs) and finally to the cusp Eighteenth/Nineteenth century (Constable, Turner, Goya, Agasse, Géricault, Delacroix). Thus, high prices can be attached to a master from any period if the marketplace holds him in high enough esteem at the time of sale.
At this level there are only a few buyers, some private individuals and a couple of museums. In each age there is one powerful buyer who dominates the market. At various times in the past this has been; Catherine the Great of Russia, Charles I of England, the Medici, the Rothschilds and so on. At the time of writing it is the Getty Museum who reportedly have to spend four per cent per annum of their alleged $5,000,000,000 endowment to retain their charitable status. Interestingly, along with several of the largest buyers, they often prefer to buy privately and they only account for three or four out of the top twenty auction prices. Like all museums, it is much easier for them to buy privately, when they do not have to rush trustee meetings and they can conduct a slow and tough negotiation with a dealer.
The few private individuals who buy at this level have normally spent years working their way up to this point gradually buying better and better paintings. Good old masters start at around £50,000. Below this it is possible to buy good paintings but it needs luck, application and advice. Above £50,000 the sky is the limit depending on the rarity, popularity and which school the collector is interested. Plenty of people have enough money to compete but few have either the knowledge, nerve or confidence to buy the rare and outstanding paintings that dominate the higher echelons of the market. The main leading private collectors for Old Masters are American, Swiss (who have always understood the value of art), and a few other Europeans. The Japanese have problems with the religious inspiration behind a large part of the canon and the English buyers at this level can be counted with one hand. In the Eighteenth century the newly rich English went on the greatest art buying spree the world has ever seen. That is why there are some 27,000 old master and nineteenth century foreign paintings in English museums, and numerous more in the extensive private holdings in the great country houses (Burghley has over 400 and Chatsworth has several hundred).
Since the Eighteenth century the British have gradually lost their confidence as their Empire dissolved, their currency collapsed, their sportsmen stopped winning and they lost their appetite for the work of the great masters.
It clearly follows, that as the price reduces more potential buyers enter the fray, as more people potentially can afford to buy should they so wish. The more the collector is contemplating spending, the more he should protect himself as well as possible by seeking the best advice he can obtain.
Price trends
Around 15,000 Old Master lots are currently coming up for auction annually. This equals the 1989 level which then dropped off to about 12,000 at the depth of the recession in 1993. Turnover peaked in 1989 at £ (pounds) 280,000,000 and has since levelled off at £200,000,000 having bottomed in 1993 at £140,000,000. So, it can be seen that the market has recovered the amount of lots being sold but has only recovered two thirds of its turnover. This only really affects the buyer of middle ranged goods which have not yet recovered the euphoric heights of the late 1980s. The market is currently selective and for excellent paintings is even stronger than it was in 1989.
The strongest areas today are the Eighteenth century Venetian ‘vedute’ or view painters such as Canaletto, Guardi, Marieschi, Carlevarijs and Bellotto, and the Dutch and Flemish painters of the Seventeenth century such as Rembrandt, De Hooch, Hobbema, Salomon van Ruisdael, Jan Steen, Adrian van Ostade, Pieter Breughel the Younger and Jan van Huysum.
These areas are perfect for the non-religious easy viewing taste of today. Everybody has a happy memory of times spent in Venice whether with a spouse, lover or just wondering around in awe at the loveliness of it all. The vedute painters are technically excellent, often come onto the market, are visually very attractive and appeal to most nationalities.
The Dutch School is attractive to today’s buyers for similar reasons described above for the vedute painters. In addition, because they were painted for the town houses of the Dutch merchants, they are small in size which is helpful when fitting them in to today’s smaller houses.
A school that is out of fashion is the English Eighteenth century (Reynolds, Gainsborough, Hoppner, Romney, etc). These paintings made enormous prices when pushed by Duveen, the leading dealer at the beginning of the century. They have never recovered anywhere near those heights. However, an attractive female portrait by Gainsborough would be competed for and there are artists overlooked by Duveen who have become sought after today such as; Johann Zoffany (Group portrait of Lord Willoughby de Brooke, £2.8m or $4.3m, in 1989), Joseph Wright of Derby (Mr and Mrs Coltman, £1.3m or $1.6m, in 1984) and George Stubbs (Royal tiger £2.9m or $4.6m, in 1995).
Thus the buyer faces a choice with regard to fashion. It is much easier as well as more expensive for the buyer to hunt with the pack and chase the fashionable artists. Changes in fashion in the art world happen over decades as opposed to years, so it is more straight forward both to buy and sell into the current fashion. However, the buyer can also buy very inexpensively against the trend with impressive results.
A good example of an outstanding collection acquired against the trend is that of Sir Denis Mahon’s collection of seventeenth-and eighteenth-century Italian paintings collected in the 1930s until the early 1970s. It includes masterpieces by Guercino, Guido Reni, Domenichino, Annibale Carracci, Luca Giordano, Pietra de Cortona, Pellegrini and Crespi.
During the period this collection was being constructed such works were out of fashion and could be obtained for relatively small sums. Sir Denis reputedly never spent more than £5,000 on a painting and bought most of them for considerably less.
Collectors should certainly buy paintings with which they enjoy living. A popular saying is I don't know about art, but I know what I like. This is all very well but it is not enough for the collector who has to explore the issue of an acquisition considerably more carefully than merely buying what he likes. Regarding price, therefore, the matter of a trend is important because the collector may be buying a painting that is a part of a trend that is appreciating, depreciating or merely level pegging and he should be aware of this.
Price - a case study - Canaletto
Canaletto is perhaps the most highly sought after of the populist Old Masters at present. This exercise is designed to show the sort of knowledge necessary prior to making an important acquisition whilst using Canaletto as an example.
Canaletto’s entire oeuvre of paintings is around 800 works. This is an unusually high figure and is due to his working practise of using workshop assistants to complete his work at various busy stages of his career. Artists who finished their own works unaided such as Rembrandt or Stubbs normally have oeuvres of 200 to 300 paintings. The bible for Canaletto is Canaletto by W.G. Constable (Oxford University Press, 1962), of which there is a revised edition by J.G. Links in 1989. Constable lists 521 compositions sometimes with various versions, some of these being identical and some not. Links then adds a further fifty or so paintings in his supplementary index that have come to light since Constable’s work.
Unusually for an Italian painter most of Canaletto’s surviving works in private hands are in England, in the Great English Country House collections for which they were acquired by the Grand Tourists. For example, the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey has twenty-two, the Wallace Collection has thirteen and the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle forty-four. Numerous English houses have three or four and with England’s practical approach to export regulations there is no shortage of good examples of Canaletto’s work trickling on to the market.
Canaletto’s style changes considerably and the prices vary according to the period. His early work such as the Grand Canal: looking Northeast from the Palazzo Balbi to the Rialto Bridge in the Ca’Rezzonico, Venice (see pl. xx), is less concerned with the accuracy of the architecture than his later work and more interested in the atmospheric effects of Venice. The water has an oily feel and the painting has a considerable amount of movement.
Some collectors prefer this early development period of Canaletto’s oeuvre, whilst others seek his mature Venetian period in the early to mid 1730s. A mature masterpiece from this period is The Bucintoro returning to the Molo on Ascension Day in the Royal collection (see pl xx). At this stage in his career Canaletto paints large figures which bring the viewer much closer to the scene making it more immediate. The colours are rich and full and, because this is before Canaletto’s use of studio assistants, it is all painted by him. This period has a similar level of value to the earlier period.
In the 1740s Canaletto started mass producing his paintings to keep up with the demand and studio participation becomes apparent. The work becomes more mechanical, less individual with smaller figures often painted by the studio. Canaletto’s studio figures are often stick-like and the assistants could never manage the elaborate foreshortening achieved by Canaletto himself. However, Canaletto was still working hard and there is the occasional masterpiece from this period.
In 1746 Canaletto came to England for the first of two nearly consecutive periods, where he remained until his return to Venice in 1755. During this time he could never shake off the Venetian skies which still appear over Northumberland House and Warwick Castle. The paintings are also very valuable mainly because of their historical interest. His technique has slightly deteriorated by this stage and his figures are merely suggested as opposed to being properly constructed. An exceptionally good example from this period is London: Whitehall and the Privy Garden from Richmond House belonging to the Duke of Richmond at Goodwood House (see pl xx and detail pl xx). The last major Canaletto of this period to come on to the market was The Old Horse Guards, from St. James’s Park, with figures parading which currently holds the auction Canaletto world record. This was acquired by Lord Lloyd-Weber, 15-Apr-92 for £9,200,000 ($16,008,000) and is currently on loan to the Tate Gallery.
When Canaletto returned to Venice in 1755 he began what is called his final Venetian period. This lasted until his death in 1763. During this final period his eyesight was failing and the paintings suffer from this. The architecture is still accurately rendered but he is less interested in the texture of the brick or stone. The figures are much more summarily executed as can be seen by the Capriccio: a Colonnade opening on to the Courtyard of a Palace in the Gallerie dell Accademia, Venice. Paintings from this period are less sought after and less valuable.
Top Canaletto prices
| Title | Details | Location | Date | Price | |
| 1 | The Old Horse Guards, from St. James’s Park, with figures parading | (46 x 93 in - 117 x 236 cm) lot 59 illus. | Christie’s, London (Tel: 0171 839 9060). | 15-Apr-92 | £9,200,000 $16,008,000 |
| 2 | Le Retour du Bucentaure le Jour de l’Ascension | (34 x 54 in - 86 x 137 cm) lot 1 illustrated painted c. 1731-32. | Ader Tajan, Paris (Tel: 331 5330 3030). | 15-Dec-93 | £7,594,937 $11,316,457 F Fr 66,000,000 |
| 3 | View of Molo from Bacino di San Marco. View of Grand Canal, facing east from Campo di San Vio. | (19 x 31 in - 48 x 80 cm) lot 100 illustrated pair. | Sotheby’s, New York (Tel: 1 212 606 7000). | 1-Jun-90 | £5,988,024 $10,000,000 |
| 4 | Venice, Molo from Bacino S. Marco. Grand Canal, Venice. | (19 x 31 in - 48 x 80 cm) lot 97 illus (est: £4,000,000-$6,000,000) pair prov. lit. | Sotheby’s, London (Tel: 0171 273 5000). | 3-Dec-97 | £4,600,000 $7,690,000 |
| 5 | Venice - Plazza San Marco; Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge. | (18 x 30 in - 46 x 77 cm) lot 48 illus (est: £2,000,000-$3,000,000) pal prov. lit. exhib. | Sotheby’s, London. (Tel: 0171 293 5000). | 3-Dec-97 | £3,500,000 £5,775,000 |
| 6 | The Molo looking west. Riva Degli Schiavoni looking east. | (18 x 30 in - 46 x 77 cm) lot 114 illus (est: 1,500,000-2,000,000) pair. | Sotheby’s, New York (Tel: 1 212 606 7000). | 30-Jan-97 | £2,562,500 $4,100,000 |
| 7 | Grand Canal, Venice from San Stae to Frabbriche Nuove. | (19 x 31 in - 47 x 78 cm) lot 120 illus (est: 1,500,000-2,000,000) prov. lit. exhib. | Christie’s, London (Tel: 0171 839 9060). | 4-Jul-97, | £2,100,000 $3,528,000 |
| 8 | Capriccio of Scuola di San Marco from Palazzo Grifalconi-Loredan, Venice. | (35 x 54 in - 88 x 137 cm) lot 20 illus. | Christie’s, London (Tel: 0171 839 9060). | 22-Apr-94 | £2,000,000 $2,960,000 |
| 9 | View of Riva Degli Schiavoni, Venice, looking east. | (22 x 37 in - 57 x 3 cm) lot 132 illus. | Sotheby’s, New York. (Tel: 1 212 606 7000). | 20-May-93 | £ 1,568,628 $ 2,400,000 |
| 10 | Venice, entrance to the Grand Canal. Venice, Plazza San Marco. | (24 x 31 in - 61 x 79 cm) lot 94 illus (est: 600,000-800,000) pair prov. lit. | Sotheby’s, London (Tel: 0171 293 5000). | 3-Jul-97 | £1,650,000 $2,604,000 |
| 11 | Capriccios of ruins and Colleoni Monument. Palace, bridge and obelisk. | (59 x 33 in - 150 x 135 cm) lot 76 illus pair. | Sotheby’s, New York. (Tel: 1 212 606 7000). | 13-Jan-94 | £1,409,396 $2,100,000 |
| 12 | Grand Canal, Venice looking east from Campo di S. Vio, with barges and gondolas. | (27 x 36 in - 6 x 92 cm) lot 25 illus. | Christie’s, London (Tel: 0171 839 9060). | 10-Jul-92 | £1,300,000 $2,496,000 |
| 13 | Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, Bacino San Marco, Venice. | (24 x 37 in - 600 x 94 cm) lot 38 illus. | Christie’s, New York (Tel: 1 212 546 1000). | 11-Jan-95, | £1,217,949 $1,900,000 |
| 14 | Thames at Westminster and Whitehall from terrace of Somerset House. | (16 x 28 in - 41 x 72 cm) lot 3 illus. | Christie’s, London (Tel: 0171 839 9060). | 17-Nov-89 | £1,200,000 $1,860,000 |
| 15 | The Rialto Bridge, Venice from the south. | (399 x 51 in - 99 x 130 cm) lot 135 illus. | Christie’s, New York (Tel: 1 212 546 1000). | 15-May-96 | £1,192,053 $1,800,000 |
What Price a Canaletto?
If a collector is offered a Canaletto which he likes and is interested in buying then he has to ask himself some of the questions already raised in this case study as well as a few more. These should include:
- What date is the painting and in which of Canaletto’s styles is it executed?
- Is it a Venetian, English or other view, or is it an imaginary landscape or capriccio? (Real views are more valuable than capriccios).
- What is the subject matter? If it is a Venetian view then a scene with water is most desirable.
- Size? Large Canaletto’s are the most valuable. He tended to paint in three standard sizes, which is this one?
- What is the painting’s condition? If it is coming up at auction ask a dealer’s opinion.
- What is the frame like? Is it in an original or reproduction frame?
- Who is selling the painting? Are they a reputable source who will guarantee passage of clear title upon full receipt of agreed funds?
- What is the painting’s provenance? Who has owned it and what is its recent history? Is it fresh to the market or has it been offered around and you are the last post of call?
- What prices have similar paintings by Canaletto been fetching recently?
- How many Canaletto’s of this type, size and quality are left in private hands and are ever likely to come on to the market in the future?
- Is it in Constable’s book or Links’s supplement?
These are some of the criteria that the collector would need to address prior to deciding on what price to pay for the Canaletto.
Price - A Conclusion
It is hoped that some of the points raised in this essay will go some way towards demystifying the issue of the price of paintings for today’s collector. Advice is important and, just as if you require good legal advice you naturally seek a good lawyer, then likewise try and obtain input from a good dealer. Whilst it is possible to have some luck on your own, all the best collections over the ages have been based on sound scholarship and advice.
Ivan Lindsay
Lindsay Fine Art