Tuesday, June 17, 2014

RM 7.5 MILLION FOR A BOTTICELLI DRAWING, THE FIRST BOTTICELLI TO APPEAR FOR SALE IN 100 YEARS!

KEE@FSWMAG.COM
This is not even a painting by Sandro Botticelli but just a drawing. And the subject is rather unsexy and unglam but it is a Botticelli and the subject is St Joseph so God forbid it should be seen in a glamorous light! 
Sotheby’s London to Present
RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE MASTERWORKS
FROM THE COLLECTION OF
BARBARA PIASECKA JOHNSON
Sold to Benefit The Barbara Piasecka Johnson Foundation

Including
The Only Botticelli Drawing
To appear on the market in 100 Years
Sandro Botticelli, Study for a seated St. Joseph, 

his head resting on right hand
129 by 124 mm, est. £1-1.5 million

 *************************************

              Over the course of 30 years, Barbara Piasecka Johnson (1937-2013) – art connoisseur, philanthropist and wife of the late John Seward Johnson, heir to the Johnson and Johnson medical and pharmaceutical firm - assembled one of the most remarkable collections of Old Master paintings, drawings and works of art in recent times.  On 9 July 2014, Sotheby’s London Evening sale of Old Master and British Paintings will present a group of nine Renaissance and Baroque masterworks from her Estate, led by three remarkably rare Florentine drawings, including the only Botticelli drawing to appear on the market in a century (est. £1 – 1.5 million  / HK$13 – 19.5 million*).

The proceeds of the sale, expected to fetch over £8.6 million / HK$111.8 million, are to benefit the Barbara Piasecka Johnson Foundation, the primary focus of which is helping children with autism.


The Sacrifice of Isaac by Cavarozzi (est RM 25 million)
Madonna and Child on Grassy Bank by The Master of the Piasecka Johnson Madonna (RM 4 million)

In addition to the Renaissance drawings, the selection features an extraordinarily powerful depiction of The Sacrifice of Isaac by Caravaggio’s gifted follower, Bartolomeo Cavarozzi (est. £3 – 5 million / HK$39 – 65 million) and an astonishing Madonna and Child on a grassy bench by The Master of the Piasecka Johnson Madonna (est. £600,000 – 800,000 / HK$7.8 – 10.4 million).

Discussing the forthcoming sale, Alex Bell, Joint International Head and Co-Chairman of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Department said: “These masterworks bear eloquent witness to Barbara Piasecka Johnson’s trained art historian’s eye and her unique and deeply personal aesthetic. This is particularly evident in these three Florentine Renaissance drawings and Cavarozzi’s Sacrifice of Isaac which is the most important and powerful Italian Caravaggesque painting to appear on the open market in a generation.”
 Andrea del Verrocchio; Drapery Study of Figure Facing Right
Andrea del Verrocchio; Drapery Study of Kneeling Figure


*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium and prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyer’s premium

*All images by Sotheby's

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