Old Masters

Traditionally this sector is defined as works by master painters working in Europe from before 1800. It includes Renaissance artists and Dutch Golden Age painters for example. Today Old Master auctions in London and New York will include works by British artists as well as some 19th century works.


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Casket once owned by a cardinal stars in wide-ranging Swiss auction

20 October 2025

Example made in Gujarat or Goa goes to a Portuguese buyer

The Goldweigher by Rembrandt

Rare Rembrandt counterproof emerges in Cambridge

17 October 2025

As followers of Old Master prints are well aware, Rembrandt (1606-69) etchings appear at auction with great regularity with the most sought after subjects and earliest states commanding impressive prices.

Johnny Van Haeften

High-priced sales racked up at Frieze Masters on first day of fair

16 October 2025

Frieze London and Frieze Masters opened with a strong attendance and a string of sales reported on the first day of the fairs in Regent’s Park.

John Stubbe portrait

Relic of a Tudor trial turns heads at Wiltshire auction

10 October 2025

Lot 586 at Henry Aldridge’s (22% buyer’s premium) latest two-day sale was one of the more curious lots to appear at auction in recent times.

Molenaer self-portrait

Details of sales to museums from across the globe revealed by TEFAF Maastricht

07 October 2025

A round up of recently announced sales from the TEFAF Maastricht fair earlier this year

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Liotard history painting is a real rarity

06 October 2025

Jean-Étienne Liotard (1702-89) made his name creating rococo pastel portraits of the European elite. However, in his formative years as a painter he had harboured loftier artistic ambitions as a history painter.

Mary Magdalene By Ambrosius Benson 2713NEDI 01 10 2025

Mary Magdalene turns heads as Old Master painting flies to 20 times estimate in US auction

02 October 2025

A painting of Mary Magdalene by Ambrosius Benson (c.1495-1550) drew dramatic competition at a recent US auction.

Edward VI portrait

Edward VI portrait goes on view at Hampton Court Palace after selling at Roseberys

01 October 2025

A portrait of King Edward VI that sold at a Roseberys auction earlier this year has gone on public display at Hampton Court Palace.

Madonna and Child painting

Bidding battle in Banbury propels Old Master to six-figure sum

29 September 2025

A Madonna and Child painting, catalogued as by an ‘Italian Old Master’, took an astonishing £685,000 hammer price at an auction in Banbury.

Portrait by Rosalba Carriera

Rosalba Carriera portrait sets auction record at Cheffins

17 September 2025

Underlining the current demand for works by female Old Masters, a portrait of an English MP set an auction record for the Italian artist Rosalba Carriera (1673-1757) at Cheffins.

Christ on the Cross attributed to Peter Paul Rubens

Crucifixion scene gains ‘Rubens’ attribution and appears at Osenat auction

10 September 2025

A previously unknown depiction of Christ on the cross believed to have been painted by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) has emerged at French auction house Osenat.

Paul Bril painting

Rediscovered Old Masters draw interest in Salisbury

10 September 2025

Two Dutch and Flemish Old Masters offered fresh to the market and with a sense of rediscovery drew notable competition at Woolley & Wallis’ latest Old Masters, British & European Paintings sale.

Edvard Munch's lithograph Madonna

‘Landscapes of the Mind’: Hegewisch collection heads to Christie’s

08 September 2025

An important collection of prints and works on paper amassed by the German businessman Klaus Hegewisch (1919-2014) will appear at Christie’s in London next month.

Portrait of Joanna Leigh

National Trust acquires two Joshua Reynolds paintings in £24.5m tax deal

04 September 2025

Two key paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-92) have been acquired by the National Trust from the Rothschild collection.

Nature Morte Aux Financiers by Lubin Baugin

Lost for 400 years, rediscovered still-life sets record for enigmatic French artist

18 August 2025

A rare and striking work by Lubin Baugin sets the highest price for the artist at auction

Portrait

Fake or Fortune? investigates if this a rediscovered Angelica Kauffman

12 August 2025

The latest in the new series of Fake or Fortune? featured a work possibly by 18th-century artist Angelica Kauffman.

An 18th century scene of Venice by Bernardo Canal

Venetian museum buys Canal views of the Italian city from London dealership

11 August 2025

Two 18th century scenes of Venice by Bernardo Canal (1664-1744) have been sold to the Italian museum Gallerie dell’Accademia di Venezia by London dealership Brun Fine Art for a six-figure sum.

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Arts and craftsmen: clock inventor and ship’s figurehead carver caught on canvas

11 August 2025

The only known portrait of the inventor Reverend Edward Barlow (1639-1719) was sold by Bath horology specialist Gardiner Houlgate (20% buyer’s premium) earlier this summer.

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Bridehead revisited: Dorset home delivers a ‘textbook’ bumper country house sale

11 August 2025

Auctions like this don’t come along often these days.

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Garibaldi lands in Colchester

11 August 2025

Werner watercolour underlines importance of quality local consignments to regional salerooms

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