Collecting Focus: Old Masters

Sotheby’s London is soon to auction immoderate singular examples of a genre uncovering renewed relevance with buyers of each tastes, writes Katie Armstrong

Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s “The Census astatine Bethlehem,” a cardinal batch astatine Sotheby’s Old Masters London income bid successful December 2025. Photograph: Sotheby’s

What defines an Old Master? While highly prized—and priced—at auction, this collecting class is really wider than you mightiness imagine, spanning aggregate creator periods and geographies. At Sotheby’s, the class includes works produced successful Europe betwixt the 13th and 19th centuries, from the large Italian and Dutch schools to those of Scandinavia, Bohemia, Germany, Spain and beyond. 

This diverseness extends to mean and subject. Old Masters could beryllium paintings connected canvas, copper and panel, but besides sculpture, drawings and different works of art, portion subjects scope from portraiture and inactive lifes to devotional scenes and depictions of regular life. 

“There is simply a batch of country for processing a niche collecting interest,” says Elisabeth Lobkowicz, caput of department, Old Master paintings astatine Sotheby’s London, which volition clasp its yearly Old Masters income series from December 3-5, 2025. “Most of my enthusiasm for the class comes from showing radical conscionable however applicable and fashionable these works tin be.”

Thanks to this breadth and depth, the class is simply a stalwart of auction houses worldwide. The foundations of the modern creation marketplace were built connected the buying and selling of large collections, which often included works by artists specified arsenic Rembrandt, Titian and Leonardo da Vinci. 

Botticelli’s “Portrait of a young antheral holding a roundel,” which sold for $92.2 cardinal successful 2021. Photograph: Sotheby’s

Starry names inactive fetch the highest prices erstwhile the hammer falls. In 2021, Sotheby’s New York sold Sandro Botticelli’s “Portrait of a Young Man Holding a Roundel” for an astonishing $92.2 million, shattering the erstwhile grounds for the aboriginal Renaissance artist. 

When evaluating what makes an Old Master special, its provenance, information and erstwhile it past came to marketplace besides travel into play. And conscionable similar immoderate category, determination are trends. “We are uncovering that collectors extracurricular our accepted collecting class are responding to elegantly chic portraits and refined inactive lifes astatine the moment,” says Lobkowicz. “Works by pistillate artists, specified arsenic Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun and Angelika Kauffmann, person go particularly sought-after successful caller years too.”

Provenance tin beryllium an important hook for collectors. Tracing the past of ownership is exciting, and discovering that a enactment erstwhile hung successful the location of a salient humanities fig lone enhances its appeal. Provenance probe besides ensures that aboriginal 20th-century ownership is clear, helping to debar restitution issues linked to Nazi-era looted art. 

While the process tin beryllium time-consuming, clues to an artwork’s past often prevarication adjacent to home. “There’s a wealthiness of accusation connected the backmost of an Old Master painting, whether it beryllium aged inventory labels oregon auction stencils and inscriptions,” explains Lobkowicz. “You tin propulsion unneurotic rather a important magnitude of provenance simply by turning a coating around.”

The Old Masters and 19th Century Paintings evening merchantability accumulation astatine Sotheby’s London, July 2025. Photograph: Sotheby’s

As to the information of these works, which are sometimes up to 800 years old, first-time buyers whitethorn beryllium understandably cautious astir their delicacy, but Lobkowicz reassures otherwise. “I ever promote collectors to truly prosecute with these objects: look closely, recognize them, adjacent interaction and odor them,” she says. “You tin unrecorded with them and emotion them. They’ve survived for centuries—many are not arsenic delicate arsenic you mightiness imagine. You tin perfectly bent them connected your partition and bask them each day.”

Certain conditions dictate show choices, of course. Wooden panels tin go warped successful humid environments and drawings request to beryllium kept retired of nonstop sunlight. Media specified arsenic canvas and copper are acold much forgiving, says Lobkowicz, who urges collectors not to beryllium overly cautious oregon fell distant their masterpieces successful storage. 

“You should perfectly unrecorded with Old Masters arsenic they tin beryllium existent centerpieces connected a wall. I emotion seeing them successful speech with modern works oregon wrong modern settings,” she says. “Old Masters person a mode of visually transcending their surroundings.” 

The Old Masters and 19th Century Paintings evening merchantability astatine Sotheby’s London, July 2025. Photograph: Sotheby’s

London’s upcoming Old Masters income supply the cleanable accidental to research the category. One item is an extraordinarily uncommon wintertime scene—apt for the clip of year—painted by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, depicting Joseph with Mary connected a donkey successful Bethlehem. It is simply a large-scale enactment from a backstage postulation and has not travel to marketplace for astatine slightest 40 years. “The details are captivating—it is simply a spectacular work,” Lobkowicz says.Another standout batch is Hans Eworth’s representation of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (c.1563), from the Rothschild collection. Norfolk is presented successful a suave and dapper mode that is highly antithetic for English portraiture of the time. A ample triptych from St Johns’ Almshouse successful Sherborne, England by an chartless creator offers different accidental to acquisition a uncommon work. Painted much than 500 years ago, it was concealed during the spiritual turmoil of 16th-century England, preserving it successful exceptional condition.

The St Johns’ Almshouse triptych, to beryllium auctioned astatine Old Masters London successful December 2025. Photograph: Sotheby’s

Such stories down Old Master works are portion of their timeless appeal. “I ever similar to ideate however galore different radical person looked astatine these paintings. How galore different walls person they hung on? How galore stories person they heard?” Lobkowicz asks. “They are witnesses to truthful galore lives, including our own.”

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