BY BLAIR LEAKE
Despite the economic doom and gloom, the revamped American International Fine Art Fair appears to be surviving on a healthy dose of hospitality and aggressive advertising.
Celebrating its 14th year, this Palm Beach extravaganza delivered high-wattage works ranging from paintings and furniture to textiles and antiquities.  Fair organizers, David and Lee Ann Lester, [...]

BY BLAIR LEAKE
January’s Old Master paintings sales in New York were dominated by Sotheby’s.  During the Thursday morning sale, rare and spectacular paintings on offer included the infamous Portrait of a Woman Called “La Belle Ferronnière” (Lot 181), a dramatic ‘The Contnience of Scipio” by Il Baciccio(Lot 177), and a highly anticipated restituted work,  “Jupiter [...]

OMNP takes a look at some of the highlights of Old Master paintings up for auction this week at Christie’s and Sotheby’s in New York.
A fantastic selection of works on both sides, however Sotheby’s is offering a veritable cornucopia from all ages and periods; headed up by a Mannerist masterpiece by Hendrick Goltzius, (lot [...]

OMNP highlights select lots from today’s sale of Old Master drawings at Sotheby’s New York. Highlights include a preparatory sketch by the famous sculptor Giambologna who rarely worked from drawings,  fantastical beasts of the underworld by Il Volterrano (lot 20) the efficient use of penmark by Tiepolo  in a preparatory drawing for an altarpiece (lot [...]

OMNP is finding galleries to be clearly outgunning the auction houses for this year’s crop of works for sale at Old Master Drawings Week in New York. Among the highlights below, we see the flair that Delacroix had for equine subjects, in “A Bugler on Horseback, Accompanied by a Hound,” being exhibited by Stephen Ongpin. [...]

BY BLAIR LEAKE
January is the month of short days, little light and grim weather. While most people spend this month hibernating, in eager anticipation of Spring. There is, nevertheless, one event in January which promises to shake weather-intrepid art connoisseurs from their Winter blues. The fourth annual Master Drawings Week (January 23rd-30th) is a showcase [...]

The consistent banter of “once in a lifetime” type opportunities that are  used to describe star lots at the major Old Master painting auctions can lead to one taking comments from Christie’s and Sotheby’s with a grain of salt. In the case of some of the spectacular successes during last week’s sales in London  however, [...]

Top flight works available on the Old Masters market can be counted on a set of fingers at times Nevertheless, “once in a lifetime” opportunities,  always seem to punctuate Christie’s and Sotheby’s bi-annual auctions in New York and London, creating a limelight for featured lots that is sometimes undeserving.  Christie’s London sale this December, however, [...]

As we enter the dog days of Summer, OMNP looks back at some of the highlights of the year, in a three-post series. In this entry, a look at the market’s movement.

Market News
Following the encouraging results of last December’s auctions in London Old Masters continued to assert themselves as a small isle of [...]

While Sotheby’s major sale of Old Masters is comparably diminutive to Christie’s this  year, in both size and quality, there are a few treasures still to be found.
OMNP’s star of the show has to be Sir Anthony van Dyck’s “Portrait of Endymion Porter” (lot 11, left)
This portrait easily trumps the three that Christie’s is offering [...]

Christie’s sale on Tuesday ends with a bang with an essential work by Michele Marieschi.

Was Christie’s saving all of their best consignments for the Summer? Following a slumping Spring midseason sale in New York, the auction house makes a triumphant return to the market this Tuesday, boasting one of the finest selections of paintings that [...]

A preview of the inaugural Master Paintings week, being held by London’s leading Old Master galleries this July.

OMNP previews selected lots from Sotheby’s New York sale of Old Master Paintings, European Sculpture & Antiquities on , 04 June 2009

OMNP previews Christie’s Sale 2175 of Old Masters and 19th Century Art, on Thursday, June 4, with commentary from Christie’s specialists James Hastie, and Georgina Wilsenach

OMNP previews select lots from Christie’s Sale 2820: Old Master and 19th Century Art, Amsterdam, on Wednesday, May 6th

OMNP previews lower priced lots from Christie’s upcoming Old Master Paintings Sale in London, on Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

OMNP previews lots from Christie’s Old Master Paintings sale in London, on Friday, April 24, 2009

OMNP previews select lots from Sotheby’s upcoming Old Master Paintings sale in London, on Wednesday, April 22nd

Amidst financial uncertainty, Old Masters dealers may have been nervous over the past few weeks  heading into their biggest sales event of the year. The prestigious and widely acclaimed TEFAF [The European Fine Art Fair]  has grown to account for a critical portion of annual turnover. In  lieu of Old Masters’ price stability over the [...]

A look back at some of the atmosphere surrounding the bidding room floor during Old Masters week, this past January