Even as China’s economy wobbles and even flirts with deflation, nearly half of the most-expensive lots sold at auction last month around the world came out of China.
The majority of the top sales in July traded via the Poly International Auction Company in Beijing, with the remainder split between the London Old Masters sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s. While none of the three sales are marquee auctions, they stood out in the waning days of summer—a traditionally sleepy season for the art market. Still, there were a few surprises, and lots of money changed hands.
Poly’s Works on Paper sale on July 5 saw impressive figures for early 14th and 15th century works, including an unexpected price for a 16th century work by Chen Chun, which fetched more than double its presale high estimate of CNY 15 million ($1.6 million) to achieve CNY 35 million ($4.8 million).
At Christie’s, the Flemish baroque painter Michael Sweerts’s canvas also fetched well over its high estimate of £3 million ($3.8 million) to bring in £12.6 million ($16.04 million). Sweerts’s result edged out one of Artnet’s most bankable artists, the ever-popular Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn, whose pair of 17th century portraits hit the auction block at Christie’s this spring, some 199 years after they were first sold by the house. Believed to be the last-known portraits by the artist still in private hands, the depictions of two of the artist’s acquaintances, Jan Willemsz van der Pluym and his wife Jaapgen Carels, were rediscovered during a routine evaluation by Christie’s specialist Henry Pettifer in what he called “one of the most exciting discoveries” made in the Old Masters field in some time. These works also performed well against their presale estimate of £5 million to £8 million, fetching £11.2 million ($14.3 million).
Below, see the full list of the most expensive artworks sold in July 2023 around the world.
1. Zhao Mengfu,(1302; 1322)
Estimate: Undisclosed
Final Price: CNY 181,700,000 ($25.1 million)
Where & When: Poly International Auction Co., July 5, 2023
2. Michael Sweerts,
Estimate: £2 million to £3 million ($2.5 million to $3.8 million)
Final Price: £12.6 million ($16.04 million)
Where & When: Christie’s London, July 6, 2023
3. Rembrandt Van Rijn, Portrait of Jan Willemsz. van der Pluym (1635) [L] and Portrait of Jaapgen Carels (1635)
Estimate: £5 million to £8 million ($6.4 million to $10.2 million)
Final Price: £11.2 million ($14.3 million)
Where & When: Christie’s London, July 6, 2023
4. Jin Tingbiao’s (1760)
Estimate: Undisclosed
Final Price: CNY 92,000,000 ($12.7 million)
Where & When: Poly International Auction Co., July 5, 2023
5. The Master of the Baroncelli Portraits, (ca. 1490)
Estimate: £7 million to £10 million ($8.9 million to $12.7 million)
Final Price: £7.9 million ($10 million)
Where & When: Sotheby’s London, July 5, 2023
6. El Greco,
Estimate: £6 million to £8 million ($7.6 million to $10.2 million)
Final Price: £6.3 million ($8 million)
Where & When: Christie’s London, July 6, 2023
7. Domenico Beccafumi,
Estimate: £3 million to £4 million ($3.8 million to $5.1 million)
Final Price: £5.1 million ($6.5 million)
Where & When: Sotheby’s London, July 5, 2023
8. Fra Angelico,
Estimate: £4 million to £6 million ($5.1 million to $7.6 million)
Final Price: £5 million ($6.4 million)
Where & When: Christie’s London, July 6, 2023
9. Peter Paul Rubens,
Estimate: £4 million to £6 million ($5.1 million to $7.6 million)
Final Price: £4.9 million ($6.2 million)
Where & When: Sotheby’s London, July 5, 2023
10. Wen Zhengming, Poetic Hand Scroll of Xin Yan Pian (1544)
Estimate: CNY 35,000,000 to CNY 40,000,000 ($4.8 million to $5.5 million)
Final Price: CNY 40,250,000 ($5.5 million)
Where & When: Poly International Auction Co., Ltd., July 5, 2023
11. Wang Chong, (1532)
Estimate: CNY 30,000,000 to CNY 40,000,000 ($4.1 million to $5.5 million)
Final Price: CNY 39,100,000 ($5.4 million)
Where & When: Poly International Auction Co., Ltd., July 5, 2023
12. Chen Chun, (1544)
Estimate: CNY 12,000,000 to CNY 15,000,000 ($1.6 million to $2.1 million)
Final Price: CNY 35,075,000 ($4.8 million)
Where & When: Poly International Auction Co., Ltd., July 5, 2023
13. Dong Qichang,
Estimate: CNY 18,000,000 million to CNY 22,000,000 million ($2.5 million to $3 million)
Final Price: CNY 33,350,000 ($4.6 million)
Where & When: Poly International Auction Co., Ltd., July 5, 2023
14. Xu Wei,
Estimate: Undisclosed
Final Price: CNY 32,775,000 ($4.58 million)
Where & When: Duo Yun Xuan Auctions Co., Ltd., July 30, 2023
15. Antonio Canova, (1816–17)
Estimate: £2.5 million to £4 million ($3.2 million to $5.1 million)
Final Price: £3.5 million ($4.51 million)
Where & When: Christie’s London, July 6, 2023