Displaying items by tag: george wachter

"Old Masters, New Voices" is a themed panel series hosted annually by the Old Master Paintings department at Sotheby’s, inviting contemporary scholars, artists, and specialists to take a new look at the influence of Old Master Paintings. This year’s panel, coinciding with Sotheby’s Master Week sales on January 29, will focus on the role played by food in the history of Western Art. From the sumptuous feasts so delicately reproduced in 17th century painting, to the use of food in 21st century performance art, the panel discussion will explore the ways in which artists have used food throughout history.

Christopher Apostle, Sotheby’s Senior Vice President and Head of Old Master Paintings Department and George Wachter, Sotheby’s Executive Vice President and Co-Chairman of Old Master Paintings Worldwide invite the public to join Old Masters, New Voices 2015 panel discussion, moderated by Michael Wilson, former Editor in Chief of La Cucina Italiana.

She’s back.

Sotheby’s is offering a portrait of Roman noblewoman Lucretia, by Lucas Cranach the Elder, in a private-sales exhibition at its Bond Street, London, salesroom. If the bare-breasted lady looks familiar, she is. The circa-1509 painting was last offered at Sotheby’s in New York quite recently, in January 2012. It sold for $5.122 million, the fourth highest price ever paid for a Cranach at auction. (The record, $8.6 million, was set in 1990.)

In 2012, the painting in the “Important Old Masters Sale” was given quite the white-gloved hard sell. A video of department chairman George Wachter praised her voluptuousness and noted that museums were likely to be interested. It sold in the midrange of its $4 million to $6 million estimate (outpaced only by a Caneletto Venice scene.)  The sale sheet listed as going to a “European private” in an auction that was only 59.7 percent sold.