Willem Claesz. HEDA (1594-1680/82)

Old Masters overtaking Contemporary Art sales? That’s how it looks after Sotheby’s and Christie’s London sales of combined Old Masters & 19th century art on 7 & 8 July. The total revenue from the two houses’ Old Masters works amounted to nearly £39m, i.e. a million more than they both earned from Contemporary Art sales the previous month.

The XVIIth century was a golden age for still life painting in Northern European countries from which two themes emerged: table settings and floral compositions. The paintings of the XXIIth century Northern Schools have proven a profitable refuge, with price levels rising by +85% in a decade. It is also a field of informed collectors who are hugely selective.

The Artprice marketplace currently has 243 Old Master paintings on offer at an average price of EUR 94,110. Although pre-19th Century paintings only represent 3% of the works on offer on Artprice’s standardised marketplace, the selection is of a very high quality.