The seduction of Cupid: Old Masters set world record

Old Master Paintings & 19th Century Paintings

When a boyish Cupid with golden curls mischievously appears behind rhododendron and lilies, success is definitely inevitable. The bidding topped out at €96,000/ €121.000, a sensational result and by far the highest ever winning bid for Karl Josef Agricola, an artist who wandered between Classicism and Biedermeier. The marvellous atmosphere and the exquisite painterly execution of the depiction of the subjects also helped Adoration of the Shepherds, from the workshop of Lucas Cranach II, attain an impressive winning bid of €45,000/ €56.700.

Carl Josef Alois Agricola
(Seckingen 1779 – 1852 Wien)
Amor mit Pfeil und Bogen in einer Landschaft, 1827
Öl auf Leinwand;

Lucas Cranach II. Werkstatt
(Wittenberg 1515 – 1586 Weimar)
Anbetung der Hirten, um 1560-70
Öl auf Holz, parkettiert; 61,5 x 58 cm

Joseph Orient
(Purbach 1677 – 1747 Wien)
Ideallandschaft mit Bauernkirmes
Öl auf Holz; 34 x 47 cm

And when Hendrik von Balen presents endearing putti as an allegory for the four elements, a flurry of bids and counter-bids ending at no less than €30,000 / €37.800 comes as no surprise. Another highlight of this successful auction was a new record price for Josef Orient: his interpretation of an idealized landscape with a peasants’ fair and a view of the distant horizon between craggy peaks was sold for €15,000 / €18.900 and saw the opening price quickly doubled.

19th Century Paintings

Waldmüller, Schuch, and Rudolf von Alt

Ideal and reality, old age and youth, light and shadow—Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller was always very skilled in using these contrasts to captivate his collectors. The picture of the old invalid surrounded by curious children is yet another example of his gift for telling stories with a picture. With a winning bid of €110,000 / €138.600, the proud new owner can now study this story up close and personally. At the other end of the century, Carl Schuch painted his studio in Venice; bathed completely in a dim light, it becomes a symphony in brown that—following a winning bid of €45,000/ € 56.700 – will soon work its magic on its new owner.

Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller
(Wien 1793 – 1865 Helmstreitmühle bei Mödling)
Ein alter Invalide mit Kindern, 1827
Öl auf Holz; 31,5 x 26 cm

Rudolf von Alt
(Wien 1812 – 1905 Wien)
Die Vorhalle von San Marco in Venedig, 1896
Aquarell auf Papier; 37,5 x 53 cm

Marie Egner
(Radkersburg 1850 – 1940 Maria Anzbach)
Teerosen und Veilchen, um 1879
Öl auf Holz; 48 x 66 cm

Characterized by a much more delicate rhythm is Rudolf von Alt’s depiction of the vestibule of Venice’s San Marco, whose painterly finesse enticed collectors to take the bidding all the way up to €36,000/ € 45.360. Friedrich Gauermann, Marie Egner, and Hermann Salomon Corrodi’s scene on the Nile also contributed to this highly successful auction.

All pictures are available for download at imkinsky.com/de/presse-downloads.