A drawing by Flemish master Rubens was sold today 1/31/2019 for $ 8.2 million in auctions in NY.
Updated: Mar 14, 2019
A drawing by the Flemish master Rubens was sold today 1/31/2019 for $ 8.2 million in auctions in New York. Some believe that the royal family of the Netherlands, the owner of the work, should have offered it to Dutch museums.
This study of an exceptional size (49 cm by 31), represents a young man with his arms raised. This drawing was intended to prepare the triptych The Raising of the Cross (around 1610). It was acquired in 1838 by Prince of Orange, the future king of the Netherlands .
Wednesday, after feverish minutes marked by a duel between a buyer in the room and another on the phone, the drawing sold for $ 7 million, a total of $ 8.2 million with premium. Well beyond the range of estimates provided by Sotheby's, between $ 2.5 and $ 3.5 million. The previous record for a drawing by Rubens was set at a Christie's auction in London in 2014, with 3.2 million pounds ($ 5.5 million) for Samson & Delilah.
