Regarding tonight’s sale of Master Paintings & Sculpture, Christopher Apostle, Head of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Department in New York, commented: “This evening we saw exceptional prices for several exceptional pictures – this market understands and appreciates a masterpiece when it sees one. That applies both to famed artists like Rubens and Botticelli, who continue to attract a global audience, as well as names celebrated among connoisseurs like Drost and de Coster, both of whom saw new auction records set tonight. We had strong private bidding across our field, including participation from Asian and Russian collectors, with Dutch 17th-century pictures, early Italian, and Flemish works performing particularly well.”

Sotheby’s Masters Week sales continue on Thursday with the Master Paintings & Sculpture Day Sale, followed by the Master Paintings & 19th Century Art auction on Friday.

Sir Peter Paul RubensStudy of a Horse with a RiderEstimate $1/1.5 millionSold for $5,075,000

Until recently, Sir Peter Paul Rubens’s Study of a Horse with a Rider had been described as by a follower of Sir Anthony Van Dyck. However, the authorship had been difficult to discern due to overpaint and background added later, which dominated the original scene. With the removal of these later additions, the canvas has been revealed as a work of high quality, and a typical example of the spirited and rapidly-painted oil sketches for which Rubens is celebrated.

Willem DrostFloraEstimate $400/600,000Sold for $4,625,000NEW AUCTION RECORD FOR AN ARTIST

Six bidders competed for Flora, one of Willem Drost’s finest works. Tonight’s price of $4.6 million marks a new auction record for the artist, breaking the previous record set in 1992. Flora was executed during the artist’s brief stay in Venice in the 1650s, when he came under the direct spell of Titian – to whom this work is a clear homage.

Adam de CosterA Young Woman Holding a Distaff Before a Lit CandleEstimate $1.5/2 millionSold for $4,850,000NEW AUCTION RECORD FOR AN ARTIST

Adam de Coster’s dramatic nocturne again set a new auction record for the artist tonight, surpassing the previous record it had established at Sotheby’s in 1992. On offer from the collection of J.E. Safra the work remains one of the most significant additions in recent decades to the artist’s small catalogue.

Orazio GentileschiHead of A WomanSold for $1,812,500

One of only two known panel paintings, Gentieleschi’s Head of a Woman was executed during the first half of the 1630s, when the artist was working at the court of King Charles I of England. The work was last seen in public in the landmark exhibition on Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2001.  Proceeds from the painting will in part benefit the department of European Painting and Sculpture at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Francisco Goya y LucientesLos caprichos. [madrid: printed by rafael esteve for the artist, 1799.]Estimate $500/700,000Sold for $912,500

A rare first edition of Francisco Goya’s first and most celebrated printed work surpassed expectations. Consisting of 80 plates in the original binding, Los Caprichos. [Madrid: Printed by Rafael Esteve for the artist, 1799.] is generally considered the artist’s finest printed work, and is remembered for its satirical presentation of society’s follies. Many specific themes and allusions defy interpretation.

ADDITIONAL AUCTION RECORDS ACHIEVED FOR:Abraham JanssensDomenico Cresti, Called PassignanoJean-François de Sompsois

OLD MASTER DRAWINGS

This morning, Sotheby’s auction of Old Master Drawings totaled $4.5 million, surpassing the sale’s overall high estimate. The auction was led by two remarkable watercolors by J.M.W. Turner, both on offer from the direct descendants of Ralph Brocklebank – the scion of an important shipping family, who became chairman of Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. Appearing on the market for the first time in nearly 150 years, Switzerland: Possibly Lake Thun (estimate $150/250,000) and Switzerland: Lake Thun, looking towards the Nissen and Stockhorn (estimate $140/180,000) fetched $756,500 and $612,500 respectively – more than three times their high estimates.

Gregory Rubinstein, Worldwide Head of Old Master & Early British Drawings, commented: “We are very pleased with today’s sale, which saw exceptional prices for a diversity of works spanning from the 16th through the 19th centuries. As always, high quality and freshness of material were primary drivers of our results. A global audience of private collectors, including those from America, Europe and the Middle East, vied for the opportunity to own works emerging from prominent private collections, such as the Forbes Collection and the Berger Educational Trust – both of which realized totals well above pre-sale expectations.”