Old Masters - a string of discoveries

Koller's Old Master Paintings department has made a string of important discoveries within the past decade. Most recently, a sublime early still life by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder was spotted by a Koller specialist in a private collection. The work had been estimated at less than EUR 100 000 by a rival auction house, but Koller realized that its true worth was in the millions, and sold it in September 2008 for CHF 5.77 million (EUR 3.62 million).

Discoveries such as these are only possible with a dedicated, knowledgeable and open-minded team of specialists. Koller's Old Master Paintings department has proven time and again that with exacting research, precise cataloguing and international publicity and marketing, quality paintings sell in Zurich for equal or even higher prices than in London or New York.
 

Next Auction: 26 March 2010

Preview in Zurich:

13 - 21 March 2010

Preview of highlights:

Düsseldorf: 25 - 26 February 2010

Old Master Paintings - Auction 26 March 2010
Highlights		  
  A152/3018
SOUTH NETHERLANDS, 16th c.
Extensive landscape with the vision of Saint Hubert.
Oil on panel. 72 x 78 cm.

CHF 150 000.- / 200 000.-
(€ 101 350.- / 135 140.-)

For the high resolution picture, please click on the image.
  A152/3026
FRANCESCO BASSANO the younger
Allegory of the wind. Circa 1592.
Oil on canvas. 143 x 188 cm.

CHF 40 000.- / 60 000.-
(€ 25 150.- / 37 730.-)

For the high resolution picture, please click on the image.
  A152/3033
ABRAHAM MIGNON
Fruit and floral still life with grapes, peaches, melons, corn poppy and insects on a stone table. Circa 1675.
Oil on panel. 38.4 x 3.2 cm.

CHF 60 000.- / 100 000.-
(€ 40 540.- / 67 570.-)

For the high resolution picture, please click on the image.
  A152/3062
FRANCESCO GUARDI, 18th c.
Canale Grande with a view of the Fondaco dei Turchi.
Oil on canvas. 53.6 x 71.8 cm.

CHF 150 000.- / 200 000.-
(€ 101 350.- / 135 140.-)

For the high resolution picture, please click on the image.
  A152/3065
MICHELE MARIESCHI, 18th c.
A pair: Capriccio with triumphal arch / Capriccio with Gothic portico and architectural elements. Oil on canvas. 54.5 x 72 cm each.

CHF 400 000.- / 600 000.-
(€ 270 270.- / 405 410.-)

For the high resolution picture, please click on the image.
One of the highlights of the Old Master paintings auction is a small gem by 17th-century Dutch artist Abraham Mignon (lot 3033). The painting, a still life with fruit and flowers dating from the end of Mignon‘s short life, circa 1675, was only known to experts through a black-and-white photo until it was recently rediscovered in a Swiss collection. In remarkable condition, it is certain to create a sensation among aficionados of Mignon‘s work. A 16th-century landscape with St Hubert (lot 3018) is in the tradition of the great Flemish landscape artist Joachim Patinir (ca. 1480-1524). Patinir was among the first painters to make the landscape the main subject of his paintings, and this revolutionary development influenced generations of artists. The influence of Albrecht Dürer can also be detected in this stunning painting, which falls into the category of so-called „world landscapes“: rather then depicting an existing landscape, it represents the general beauty of nature in an idealized form. Also from the 16th century, a large allegorical composition by Francesco Bassano the Younger (lot 3026) combines the natural and supernatural: a richly illustrated scene from everyday life of the period crowned by an allegorical figure representing the wind. Other Old Master highlights include a pair of so-called “capriccio” views of imaginary cities with elaborate architectural elements by the 18th-century Venetian master Michele Marieschi (lot 3065), and a view of the Canale Grande in Venice by Marieschi‘s famous nephew, Francesco Guardi (lot 3062).