Proceeds from the auction held yesterday evening in London, was more than 68 million pounds. It is the largest amount in the history of trades in this category. Also, price records were set for works by Raphael, Rembrandt and Domenichino

Proceeds from the London auction "old masters and paintings of the XIX century", held in the house Christie's on Dec. 8, 2009, amounted to 68 380 250 pounds. This amount is the largest-ever auction in this category, although the 43 offered lots were sold in 28 (65%). The greatest activity in the auction shown by collectors from Europe - they bought 46 percent of all lots in the U.S. (43%), Asia and Middle East (11 %).

Richard Knight, Head of International Department old masters and paintings of the XIX century Christie's: «As we expected, these auctions have become a landmark event in the history of the market paintings by old masters. Apart from the fact that proceeds from the auction is an unprecedented high, as the auction was set three world records were outstanding. Throughout the year we have repeatedly observed that the art of the highest level in high demand among collectors. One of the most notable example was the sale in February's auction in Paris, which was exhibited at the Art Collection by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge, paintings of Henri Matisse's "Daffodils and cloth in blue and pink colors, gone under the hammer for a record $ 35, 9 million euros. As a result of trading on December 8 were set price records for works by Raphael, Rembrandt and Domenichino. This once again testifies to the fact that when we are dealing with a few works which have passed the test of time, collectors continue to acquire them for their meetings once seemed a good opportunity ».

Top lot of the auction was drawing Rafael (1483-1520), who retired under the hammer for 29 161 250 pounds and thereby establish two simultaneous record price - for the most expensive picture in the history of trades and the most expensive work of Raphael. Thus, the figure of Raphael took second place in the list of the most expensive works (drawings or paintings), old masters. Lot was put up for auction for the first time in 150 years and acquired an anonymous buyer who made bets on the phone.

Benjamin Peronne, head of international department of the old masters and paintings of the XIX century Christie's: «Rafael is one of the greatest painters in history, and we are honored to stand at the bidding of his drawing. It allows us to take a fresh look at the process of work of genius, to trace the formation of his creative ideas. In addition to drawing "Head of the Muse" has the undoubted artistic value in itself, it has direct relevance to the creation of one of the most famous frescoes of the brush of Raphael, which has become recognized as a masterpiece. Figure preserved in excellent condition and has a distinguished provenance - his previous owners were Sir Thomas Lawrence and the King Willem II ».

Belt" Portrait of a Man ", painted by Rembrandt (1606-1669) in 1658, went under the hammer for 20 201 250 pounds, setting a world record for the artist's works, becoming the fifth in a list of the most expensive works (drawings or paintings), old masters. Before the opening pre-auction exhibition Christie's painting does not appear in public for more than 40 years. For the first time the portrait was put up for auction 14 May 1930 and was sold for 18,5 thousand pounds - a substantial sum for those times.

Painting "St. John the Evangelist" brush Domenichino (1581-1641) - one of the most significant paintings in the Baroque style from all that appeared on the market in recent years - has found a buyer for a record $ 9 225 250 pounds. The work was exhibited at the auctions for the first time in the last 100 years.

Other top lots

canvas by Pieter Brueghel the Younger ( 1564/5-1637/8) "Flemish proverb", which contains more than 100 scenes, illustrating the richness and humor of folklore, was sold for 1 721 250 pounds in Estimé in 1-1,5 million pounds.

Another work by Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564/5-1637/8) - "Preaching of St. John the Baptist" - went under the hammer for 1 553 250 pounds. Since the XIX century until the present moment the canvas are in private collections.

• Joseph Mallord William Turner Ships of the rocks of Gibraltar. Watercolor, pencil. 17,2 x 27,3. Christie's. 08.12.09. Lot number 24
  Estimate: 250-350 thousand pounds
  Result: £ 505 250

Watercolor "Ships in the rocks of Gibraltar" by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) was sold for 505.25 thousand pounds (estimate 250-350 thousand pounds). This work was top lot of the British section of paintings and watercolors, the total sales of which amounted to 1 008 250 pounds - twice the total estimate.

Raphael (1483-1520). "The head of the Muses»

• Raphael
  head muse. Cardboard, black chalk, charcoal. 30,5 x 22,2
  Christie's. 08.12.09. Lot number 43
  Estimate: 12-16 million pounds
  Result: 29 161 250 pounds

Picture Raphael is a preparatory sketch for his famous fresco of "Parnassus, Stanza della decorating Senyatura in the Vatican. "Parnassus" - one of four murals, executed by Raphael commissioned Pope Julius II around 1508-1511 years. These murals unanimously recognized as one of the artist's masterpieces.

Raphael (1483-1520) was one of the most famous and influential artists of the High Renaissance. While living in Florence in the period from 1504 to 1508, Rafael was strongly influenced by Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. In 1508, Pope Julius II commissioned Raphael to make the painting room (stations) in the papal palace of the Vatican, for which the artist had to move to Rome. At the same time, the pope commissioned Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel, which has spurred competition between the artists and influenced the style of Raphael. The frescoes, executed them in the Stanza della Senyatura that Dad had planned to use as your library, unanimously recognized as the greatest works of the artist. According to Sir Joshua Reynolds, "it [Rafael] genius, designed to shine and shine as the fire could flare up and not so bright, if not a spark, passed him by Michelangelo».

One of the four frescoes in the Stanza della Senyatura is called "Parnassus. It depicts Apollo surrounded by the nine muses and poets. Drawing, exhibited at the December auction Christie's, a cardboard image of the head muse, located to the right of the third figure of Apollo, in its actual size (30.5 to 22.2 cm). In the process of careful preparation for the creation of Raphael's fresco, finding the main track, creating a kind of stencil, through which black pastel applied to a clean sheet of paper dotted outlines of a picture. This silhouette can clearly be seen in the figure, trade, he helped the artist to create a thoroughly researched the sketch, which, in turn, formed the basis of the work on the mural. Figure allows us to trace the process in which Rafael applied over the original silhouette free, but at the same time, confident lines, ensuring flawless perfection. Picture of "Head of the Muses" allows us to take another look at the mural itself, which was later rewritten, resulting in distorted some of its original parts.

first mention of the figure dates from 1725, when he was included in the collection of engravings by Bernard Picard called Impostures Innocentes. While drawing belonged to the famous Dutch collector G. Uylenbreku (died 1741), who owned one of the largest private libraries, as well as the collection of drawings by old masters. Subsequently, the figure was in the collections of Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) and future king of the Netherlands Willem II (1792-1849).

Rembrandt (1606-1669). Belt "Portrait of a Man»

• Rembrandt van Rijn
  Portrait of a Man. 1658. Oil on canvas. 107,4 x 87
  Christie's. 08.12.09. Lot number 12
  Estimate: 18-25 million pounds
  Result: 20 201 250 pounds

«Portrait of a Man", written in 1658, was created by the artist in the difficult period of his life: Rembrandt had to sell his house and move since two years before that, he was declared bankrupt. By this time the artist was already a painting style that today's critics call "late" and that is characterized by an increasingly bold brushwork and close attention to the transfer of light, color and texture. Apart from this picture, to have survived only one work by Rembrandt, dated 1658 year - "Self" in which the artist painted himself into the turn three-quarters located in the New York private Frick Museum.

size paintings, which depicted a man with akimbo fixed on the viewer's eye, is 107,4 x 87 cm Paint marked on the canvas in broad strokes, for the freedom which is guessed thoughtful approach to this master, attaches great importance to the transfer of light and shade. The person depicted in the painting of character to date remains unknown, although his unusual attire speaks eloquently about the fact that in Amsterdam, he was passing through. Before painting called "Portrait of Admiral».

portrait is included in the catalog of the artist's reason-drawn art historian Cornelius Hofstede de Groot in 1916, this publication refer to the principal investigators of Rembrandt's works throughout the XX century. Recently canvas was first subjected to a thorough investigation, which was conducted by Professor Ernst van de Vetering, a member of an organization set up to identify authentic works by Rembrandt (Rembrandt Research Project).

first description of the portrait appears in the exhibition catalog held at the British Institution in London in 1847; canvas for display provided a collector George Folliott. His nephew put a picture up for auction May 14, 1930, and she went under the hammer for 18.5 thousand pounds - a very significant sum for those times. Soon now privately purchased collector George Huntington Hartford Jr., the chief heir supermarkets Atlantic and Pacific, has long been considered the richest man in the world. He bought the picture, when he was 20 years old, and spoke of her as a "very great portrait of Rembrandt from all that I have ever seen." In 1958 he handed the picture as a gift to Columbia University, where she hung in the presidential office. During the student demonstrations in 1968 moved the portrait to the repository, and in 1974 sold to a private collector (proceeds from the sale was sent to the charity fund of the University). The last time viewers could see the painting in 1970 in the framework of the exhibition "Rembrandt, 300 years later", held in the Detroit University of Arts.

Domenichino (1581-1641). "St. John the Evangelist»

• Domenichino
  St. John the Evangelist. Oil on canvas. 259 x 199,4
  Christie's. 08.12.09. Lot number 28
  Estimate: 7.10 million pounds
  Result: 9 225 250 pounds

Experts tend to believe that the painting was commissioned by Vincenzo Giustiniani (1564-1637), one of the most famous collectors of the XVII century, and became one of the most significant completions of his collection, which includes, in addition to other works, 12 paintings by Caravaggio.

Scale canvas whose size is 2.5 to 2 meters, is the interpretation of the story murals, which Domenichino executed in the largest Baroque church of Rome, Sant'Andrea della Valle. The picture, written presumably shortly after the completion of the fresco (about 1627-1629), depicts John the Evangelist, who would later become the hero of one of the most famous works of Domenichino - frescoes in the chapel of the cathedral Januarius in Naples. New fabric is referred to in the posthumous inventory of the collection Giustiniani, compiled in 1638. The significance of paintings highlights the fact that it was subsequently included in most guidebooks XVIII century, and the engraving on his motives created by Jean Honore Fragonard.

Giustiniani collection was sold piecemeal in the early XIX century. King of Prussia acquired more than 160 works, which soon became part of the collections of various museums in Berlin. Other works from the collection can be seen today in London's National Gallery, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and in Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum.

«St. John the Theologian," was brought to London from Paris around 1806 year Alexis Delahunt. The original painting was bought by a member of the British Parliament and prominent art collector Richard Hart-Davis, and subsequently - Philip John-Miles, who paid for a painting at that time an unprecedented sum - 12 thousand guineas. In addition to paintings of Domenichino, the collection of John-Miles included works by Raphael. Cloth Domenichino was auctioned at Christie's in 1899 after the death of grandson, John-Miles and bought a private collector, and over the next auction is exposed by his heirs.

Domenichino (1581-1641) was one of the the most famous Italian painters of the XVII century. In the XVIII century, his painting "The Last Communion of St. Jerome", located in the Vatican, considered one of the best works of world art and the artist compared with Rafael.

Top-10 results of the evening auction Christie's «old masters and paintings of the XIX century»

№ lot	Description	Estimate, million pounds	Price, £	Buyer
43	Raphael (1483-1520), « Head Muses world record at the picture of the Old Masters	12-16	29 161 250	anonymous buyer
12	Rembrandt (1606-1669), «Portrait of a Man» World Record a work of Rembrandt, the fourth-largest price for a painting of the Old Masters of all that ever sold at auction	18-25	20 201 250	anonymous buyer
28	Domenichino (1581-1641), «St. John the Evangelist»	7-10	9 225 250	anonymous buyer
5	Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564/5-1637 /8), «Flemish proverbs»	1-1,5	1 721 250	An anonymous buyer
16	Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564/5-1637/8), «Sermon of St. John the Baptist»	1-1,5	1 553 250	anonymous buyer
4	Gerry met de Blesa (about 1510)« Ocada Teruana army under the leadership of Charles V »	0,4-0,6	1 049 250	An anonymous buyer
18	Davids, Jan de Heem (1606-1684), « Still Life with a sink and fruit on a silver platter »	0,3-0,5	541 250	anonymous buyer
20	Hoeyr William (1707-1792),« Portrait of Job Ben Solomon, the Koran »	0,05-0,08	541 250	An anonymous buyer
24	Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), «Ships in the rocks of Gibraltar»	0,25-0,35	505 250	anonymous buyer
9	Art van der Neher (1603/4-1677), « Winter landscape with people , skating and playing in kolf »	0,4-0,6	481 250	An anonymous buyer

Source : Press Release Christie's

addition of lots of the London auction on Dec. 8, 2009 You can read:

Rembrandt and Domenichino at Christie's

At the Christie's auction will record an expensive painting by Rembrandt

at Christie's will be a masterpiece of Domenichino