FRAGONARD PORTRAIT MAKES £17 MILLION AT BONHAMS AND SETS NEW WORLD RECORD TO BENEFIT CHILDREN OF THE EARTH HIGHEST PRICED OLD MASTER PAINTING IN THE WORLD THIS YEAR Our Coverage Sponsored by Stribling and Associates
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A major work by the 18th century French artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Portrait of François-Henri d’Harcourt, sold for £17,106,50 this evening (5 December) setting a world record price for the artist at auction. (The previous record was £5,300,000 for a painting sold in London in 1999). It is also the highest price for an Old Master Painting sold at auction anywhere in the world this year.
The painting was the leading work in the sale of paintings and sculpture from the renowned collection of the German philanthropist, the late Dr Gustav Rau which raised more than £19 million.
The proceeds will be used to benefit the Foundation of the German Committee for UNICEF – for the children of the world.
Bonhams Director of Old Master Paintings, Andrew McKenzie, said, “The Portrait of François-Henri d’Harcourt is one of the paintings on which Fragonard’s reputation as an artistic genius rests. It is impossible to overstate its cultural and artistic significance. Handling this great painting for sale was a huge privilege and a landmark in the history of the art market.”
Group Head of Pictures, Caroline Oliphant, said: “We were thrilled to do so well for UNICEF. It was a real pleasure to work with this collection, particularly the Fragonard, over the past months.”
One of Fragonard’s famous 15 fantasy portraits, The Portrait of François-Henri d’Harcourt was the most significant of the artist’s works to have appeared on the market for many years. Only two other fantasy portraits remain in private hands making this painting rarer than portraits by Frans Hals, Joshua Reynolds or even Rembrandt.
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) was a master of genre painting and a leading exponent of the Rococo style of which The Swing in the Wallace Collection in London is probably the best known example. In great demand as a portraitist in the dying days of the Ancien Regime, Fragonard fell on hard times after the French Revolution and although he continued to live in France he died in obscurity and poverty.
Fragonard’s fantasy portraits – often depicting friends and acquaintances - were painted quickly with bold, fluid brush work which anticipated the Impressionists in bravura and technique. This style was referred to by some contemporaries as the artist’s, ‘swordplay of the brush’. The Portrait of François-Henri d’Harcourt is unusual among Fragonard’s fantasy portraits because the subject is identified. Many of the other portraits are personifications of the arts rather than representations of named individuals.
Among the other outstanding works in the sale were:
a 15h century depiction of the Crucifixion by an unknown German artist sold for £1,082,500
‘Le grand noyer à l’Hermitage’ by Camille Pissarro was sold for £314,500 against an estimate of £200,000-300,000.
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street and Knightsbridge; and a further three in the UK regions and Scotland. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York and Connecticut in the USA; and Germany, France, Monaco, Hong Kong and Australia. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 60 specialist areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments go to www.bonhams.com.
