A painting by Peter Paul Rubens that was believed to have been lost or misattributed for about 200 years is expected to rank among the highest-value old master works ever sold when it is auctioned next year.
Salome Presented With the Head of John the Baptist was rediscovered in 1998 and will be auctioned by Sotheby’s in January. It is dated from about 1609, when the artist returned to his native Flanders from his sojourn to Italy.
The artwork depicts the cautionary tale of Salome, popular in the early 17th century for its message to be wary of cunning and powerful women, and “fearlessly explores the violent and sexual dynamics of the Biblical narrative like some pre-cinematic Martin Scorsese”, according to Keith Christiansen, the curator emeritus of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. “It’s the kind of painting that, once seen, you won’t forget.”
The painting is from the same year as another major work Sotheby’s sold in 2002, the Massacre of the Innocents, which was then the most valuable work of art to be sold in GBP and the priciest old master ever sold at auction at £50m. Though Salome is conservatively estimated at £31m, excitement among auctioneers is high.
“Salome Presented With the Head of John the Baptist is one of the most intensely powerful paintings that Rubens ever made,” said George Wachter, the Sotheby’s chair. “It isn’t huge but all the same it totally overwhelms you the second you see it, both because of the shocking power of the subject and because of its sheer technical brilliance.
“Like the Massacre of the Innocents, which broke all records in 2002, it is one of the key paintings that Rubens made after he returned from Italy. Exploding with creative energy, he immediately embarked on what were to become three of his greatest masterpieces: the Samson and Delilah at the National Gallery in London, Massacre of the Innocents, now in the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, and this painting we will be selling in January.”
Salome Presented With the Head of John the Baptist leads a group of 10 works from the collection of Rachel Davidson and Mark Fisch, which together rank as the finest group of old master paintings to come to auction in living memory.
They are all baroque masterpieces, including Guercino’s Jacob Mourning Over Joseph’s Bloodied Coat, Giulio Cesare Procaccini’s Judith and Holofernes, key works by Bernardo Cavallino and Valentin de Boulogne, and the third of the famous Sauli paintings by Orazio Gentileschi, the other two of which are at the Getty Museum. Together, the 10 baroque works are estimated to fetch about $60m when sold in New York, and will be exhibited in London in December.
As a Met board member, Fisch was behind some of the museum’s greatest acquisitions. He was also friends with Lucian Freud, to whom he would lend paintings for study and inspiration.
Christiansen said: “What distinguishes the Fisch Davidson collection is the sustained level of quality of the paintings, combined with a willingness to embrace powerful subjects that lesser collectors might find ‘difficult’.
“There is nothing shy about these pictures … These are baroque paintings that speak with a contemporary voice. Their modernity lies in their probing, psychological dimension combined with dramatic flair, realised with brilliantly descriptive brushwork.”
