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Goya sketches to go on sale in London
2008-05-27
Three drawings by Spanish master Francisco de Goya are to be sold in London after lying undiscovered in a Swiss private collection for the last 131 years, auction house Christie's said Tuesday. The works, which were last recorded at an auction of 105 Goya drawings in Paris in 1877, will be sold individually and could go for a total of more than two million pounds (2.5 million euros, 3.9 million dollars). Christie's said they represent "the most important grouping of sketches by the artist to be consigned to auction in over 30 years". The firm's director and international head of Old Master and 19th century drawings, Benjamin Peronnet, said the offerings are expected to attract worldwide interest from collectors as Goya's works rarely came on the market. The drawings are still on the mounts made specifically for the 1877 auction and were in excellent condition as they had never been framed or exposed to light, he added. "Each one is from one of the artist's celebrated private albums and they illustrate to perfection the inexhaustible fertility of Goya's imagination and the creativity and flair that see him recognised as arguably the first modern artist," said Peronnet. "Bajar riñendo" ("Down they come") comes from an album called "Witches and women" and shows four women fighting as they fly through the air. It has a guide price of between 800,000 pounds and 1.2 million pounds. "The constable Lampinos stitched inside a dead horse" comes from the "Images of Spain" album and depicts a peasants' revolt in Saragossa in the 18th century. It has a guide price of 600,000-800,000 pounds. The third drawing, "Repentance", comes from the same album and shows a seated man praying before a crucifix, eyes heavenward and mouth open like Edvard Munch's "Scream" figure. It could sell for 700,000-900,000 pounds. The auction takes place on July 7.
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