Sotheby's auctioned on Thursday, January 28, a painting by Italian Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli.

Estimated at over $ 80 million, the "Portrait of the Young Man Holding a Locket" sold for $ 92.2 million, a nearly two-year high for a work of art at auction.

At the end of a short back and forth between two collectors, a buyer giving his orders in London won with a last offer at 80 million dollars, a price to which are added fees and commissions.

The price is a higher since May 2019 and the 110 million reached by the "Meules" of Claude Monet, at Sotheby's in New York.

It is about nine times the old record for a painting by the Florentine master, set in 2013 by "The Virgin and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist", sold for $ 10.4 million.

#AuctionUpdate: Sandro Botticelli's masterpiece Young Man Holding a Roundel, one of the most significant portraits of any period ever to appear at auction, and a defining work of the Florentine Renaissance achieves $ 92.2 million - a new auction record for the artist pic.twitter .com / lqsdOC1gtX

- Sotheby's (@Sothebys) January 28, 2021

An exceptional canvas

"When you look at a painting like this, which is so exceptional, you have to compare it to other masterpieces, paintings by Picasso, Bacon or Basquiat", which have broken records in recent years years, had argued before the sale Christopher Apostle, head of the old masters department at Sotheby's in New York.

Although more than 500 years old, Botticelli's painting is in an exceptional state of preservation.

Undated, it is believed to have been made between the late 1470s and early 1480s by Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), born Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi.

It was the painter's most prolific period, during which he went to Rome at the request of the Pope to decorate the Sistine Chapel, and also painted "The Birth of Venus" and "The Spring", two of his most important works. famous.

"This image symbolizes the Renaissance in Florence", says Christopher Apostle, that moment "when everything fundamentally changed for Western thought, art and literature".

The painting had been estimated at more than 80 million dollars, approximately eight times the record for a painting by the Florentine master, set in 2013 by "The Madonna and Child with the young Saint John the Baptist", sold 10, $ 4 million.

“This Botticelli is so much more impressive than anything that we have seen happen on the market” from this painter, argued Christopher Apostle.

In the possession of a collector, who had bought it 810,000 books in 1982 (about $ 1.3 million), it was nevertheless exhibited in many museums and for long periods.

“When you have a masterpiece coming up, people wake up, (...) whatever the time,” even in the midst of economic uncertainty, says Christopher Apostle.

He recalls that the art market has remained strong despite the pandemic, with in particular a triptych by Francis Bacon awarded 84.6 million in June.

A still flourishing activity

Constrained by health restrictions, which in particular have deprived New York of public sales for ten months, the major auction houses have fallen back overwhelmingly to online sales and have maintained a significant volume of activity.

Another event of this auction dedicated to the old masters, a painting by the Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn, "Abraham and the angels", was withdrawn from the sale at the last minute.

Estimated at between $ 20 million and $ 30 million, it seemed positioned to break a Rembrandt auction record of $ 33.2 million in 2009. "Although we didn't see it in the room today , it will not find a new home anytime soon, "Sotheby's said.

With AFP

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