Read on Twitter
All I want for Christmas is...an $80 million portrait of an unknown man!
With everything going on in the world, a @Sothebys' sale next month may not seem newsworthy - but this is no ordinary artwork. This a #Botticelli!
Here's why I can't wait to see what happens...
1/
With everything going on in the world, a @Sothebys' sale next month may not seem newsworthy - but this is no ordinary artwork. This a #Botticelli!
Here's why I can't wait to see what happens...
1/
1. The artist.
Most people know #Botticelli's large mythological works, painted in the 1480s in Florence & famously housed in the magisterial @UffiziGalleries. Only ~12 of his portraits survive today. This work is 1 of 3 housed in a private collection, rather than a museum.
2/
Most people know #Botticelli's large mythological works, painted in the 1480s in Florence & famously housed in the magisterial @UffiziGalleries. Only ~12 of his portraits survive today. This work is 1 of 3 housed in a private collection, rather than a museum.
2/
2. The composition
The painting of an unknown sitter, now known as "Young Man Holding a Roundel" is an evocative & powerful portrait of a young humanist. He sits in front of an austere open window, with no landscape or any other identifying features in the background.
3/
The painting of an unknown sitter, now known as "Young Man Holding a Roundel" is an evocative & powerful portrait of a young humanist. He sits in front of an austere open window, with no landscape or any other identifying features in the background.
3/
Although simple, the clothing of the Young Man displays his wealth. His long hair is cut in a fashionable #Renaissance style; in typical #Botticelli fashion, each strand is carefully delineated. Perhaps he is a member of #Botticelli's most famous patrons: The #Medici family.
4/
4/
Sotheby's says "xrays and infra-red reflectograms...show the structure of incised circles and lines that are characteristic of Botticelli’s method of plotting out his compositions...This process of continuous revision is symptomatic of the perfectionist quest for the ideal"
5/
5/
3. The material and preservation
As opposed to other pieces which have recently set new records at auction, despite dubious attribution or significant conservation (such as Da VInci's 'Salvator Mundi' seen below), Botticelli's 'Young Man' seems to be in excellent condition.
6/
As opposed to other pieces which have recently set new records at auction, despite dubious attribution or significant conservation (such as Da VInci's 'Salvator Mundi' seen below), Botticelli's 'Young Man' seems to be in excellent condition.
6/
Some of this may be due to the materials favored by #Botticelli. In the next generation, artists began working with oil paint on stretched canvas, allowing for gradual modulations of color & slow drying times. Leonardo famously used oil to create 'sfumato' (smokey) effects.
7/
7/
#Botticelli was one of the last great practitioners of the more archaic technique of (egg-based) tempera on wooden board. Because tempera dries quickly, the artist paints tiny brushstrokes close together, rather than blending. This characteristic is visible in all Botticellis
8/
8/
4. The roundel
Something unusual happened to the panel which supports Botticelli's 'Young Man:' it was cut in order to embed the circular roundel 'held' by the sitter. The roundel is actually *another* earlier work, also done on a wooden board. A painting within a painting!
9/
Something unusual happened to the panel which supports Botticelli's 'Young Man:' it was cut in order to embed the circular roundel 'held' by the sitter. The roundel is actually *another* earlier work, also done on a wooden board. A painting within a painting!
9/
The identity of the smaller painting is unknown, but Art Historians believe that the roundel is an original work attributed to the Sienese painter Bartolommeo Bulgarini (c. 1300-1378).
Perhaps it was cut from a larger composition similar to this triptych by the same artist
10/
Perhaps it was cut from a larger composition similar to this triptych by the same artist
10/
As the auction house explains "The insertion of the medallion allows the portrait to operate as a vanitas painting, a deliberate device by the artist, suggesting the fragility of life by contrasting the youth of the very ‘real’ sitter with the age and rigidity of the saint."
11/
11/
5. The Provenance
The painting was first recorded in the 1930s in the collection of Lord Newborough at Caernarvon in Wales (castle pictured below), & is believed to have been acquired by his ancestor Sir Thomas Wynn, 1st Lord Newborough (1736-1807) while living in Tuscany.
12/
The painting was first recorded in the 1930s in the collection of Lord Newborough at Caernarvon in Wales (castle pictured below), & is believed to have been acquired by his ancestor Sir Thomas Wynn, 1st Lord Newborough (1736-1807) while living in Tuscany.
12/
In 1935/8, the portrait passed via a London dealer to a private collector, whose heirs sold it at auction in 1982 to the New York Billionaire Sheldon Solow for £810,000 (just over one million dollars). Solow then transferred ownership to his own private foundation.
13/
13/
6. Display History (& Appreciation of Value)
In the 40 years since its acquisition, the painting has been display at @NationalGallery, @metmuseum and was also featured prominently in major exhibitions at @royalacademy the @ngadc and the Städel Museum in Frankfurt am Main.
14/
In the 40 years since its acquisition, the painting has been display at @NationalGallery, @metmuseum and was also featured prominently in major exhibitions at @royalacademy the @ngadc and the Städel Museum in Frankfurt am Main.
14/
With the prestige of each display & research by expert curators, the value of the painting goes up. Accordingly, Solow continuously had the painting reappraised, resulting in the staggering price today. Selling in 2020 would normally result in $33 million capital gains tax.
15/
15/
7. The Loophole
However, bc he transferred the painting to his foundation, “[Solow] got a large deduction which sheltered his income,” said author Ralph Lerner. “And now his foundation will have all this money tax-free while satisfying its charitable purpose.”
Very tricky.
16/
![7. The LoopholeHowever, bc he transferred the painting to his foundation, “[Solow] got a large deduction which sheltered his income,” said author Ralph Lerner. “And now his foundation will have all this money tax-free while satisfying its charitable purpose.”Very tricky.16/](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EpuEEZNW8AMmFY3.jpg "7. The LoopholeHowever, bc he transferred the painting to his foundation, “[Solow] got a large deduction which sheltered his income,” said author Ralph Lerner. “And now his foundation will have all this money tax-free while satisfying its charitable purpose.”Very tricky.16/")
However, bc he transferred the painting to his foundation, “[Solow] got a large deduction which sheltered his income,” said author Ralph Lerner. “And now his foundation will have all this money tax-free while satisfying its charitable purpose.”
Very tricky.
16/
8. The Death of the Sales-man
But one small hitch. Solow announced in September that the painting would be auctioned in January, but he died of lymphoma this last November at the age of 92.
The @Sothebys sale is nevertheless moving forward.
17/ https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/sheldon-solow-art-collection-dead-1234576774/
But one small hitch. Solow announced in September that the painting would be auctioned in January, but he died of lymphoma this last November at the age of 92.
The @Sothebys sale is nevertheless moving forward.
17/ https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/sheldon-solow-art-collection-dead-1234576774/
9. The Auction House Packaging
And what a sale it is! @Sothebys has branded the 'Young Man' as "the Ultimate Renaissance Portrait" & "the most significant portraits, of any period, ever to appear at auction"
Check out their custom info page here:
https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-ultimate-renaissance-portrait
18/
And what a sale it is! @Sothebys has branded the 'Young Man' as "the Ultimate Renaissance Portrait" & "the most significant portraits, of any period, ever to appear at auction"
Check out their custom info page here:
https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-ultimate-renaissance-portrait
18/
All this comes at a price!
On the site, the auctioneers prime the pump by comparing the Boticelli to a Klimt’s portrait (sold in 2006 for $87.9 million) & Van Gogh’s Portrait of Dr Gachet (sold in 1990, $82.5 million).
In 2015 Solow sold a Giacometti for $126 million.
19/
On the site, the auctioneers prime the pump by comparing the Boticelli to a Klimt’s portrait (sold in 2006 for $87.9 million) & Van Gogh’s Portrait of Dr Gachet (sold in 1990, $82.5 million).
In 2015 Solow sold a Giacometti for $126 million.
19/
But is it worth it? You'll have to be the judge!
The closest comparanda for the 'Young Man' reside in major collections where they are admired by millions of tourists a year, but there is certainly no work quite like this one...
#renaissance #painting #Auction #Botticelli
20/
The closest comparanda for the 'Young Man' reside in major collections where they are admired by millions of tourists a year, but there is certainly no work quite like this one...
#renaissance #painting #Auction #Botticelli
20/
