The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-08-23
YEARS LONDON ART SALES
SOME NOTABLE PRICES FOR
PICTURES At CHRISTTE'B.

umph Of the water Coior-But the
Pictures Stand ut the Top sun.
A year Of remarkable activity 90 far as
relates TO the sale OF piotures aud objefs
d'ort has just been brought to o close and
for the next three months there will be
practically q void. without anything IL
chronicle. Tho course Of events at Chris
tie's can never DO humdrum, for an COCA.
sional surprise flashes out when least ex-
peotsd. says the London STANDARD, and
II the record In the early part Of the year
was tame enough 1t certainly glittered
with unusual briliance toward the close OF
the season.. Nearly all tho great successes
OF the year have been concerned with pic
lures. one Of which fetched far and away
tho highest price. though It does not In
variably happen that painted canvases
stand at the top Of the list. for 1t 10 not
90 long since a rock crystal biberon carried
of the honors with the immense bid Of
owe 10000 guineas. and q few seasons pre-
viously q piece OF French decorative furni-
turs by q famous artifoer, sold at 5000
guiness. was in the first place. There v
been some notable sales Of porcelain at
which very high prices have been paid.
though not approaching the 5000 guineas
given for an old Chinese ginger jar the
season before last. But pictures occupy
the place Of honor. and In many respects
It has becn q memorable year. When Its
annals arc recalled the name OF Turner
stands out with shining lustre, for proba-
bly, never before has such q succession OF
important works by that great master
OF landscape passed through the galleries
In King street, st. James's. In one year.
Moreover the season has been distin-
guished by the payment not only OF the
maximum prioe ever given for q Turner
under the hammer but for the fact that
that maximum also represents the biggest
sum ever paid for any picture at Chris
ties. This was IL. 900 guineas for the q
tiful "Mortlaks Terrace 500 guineas more
than the previous Christie's record. which
wa I2.IOO guineas for GainsborouRh's
Maria walpole' at the Cambridge sale IN
1904. Nor 10 that the only record. for In
other instances prices have been paid
notably for the beautiful work Of Fred
Walker-far In excess OF any ever reached
before. As a setofY to this forward move-
ment, however. q number OF works hi Q
fallen much below their former auction
value; but then changes In the public taste
have to be accepted as inevitable.
Above all the season has Witnessed the
triumph Of water color. One cannot recall
the appearance Of such fine sroupe Of draw
ings. such keen excitement In the packed
rooms during the sales. and certainly never
before such high prices. This was Of
course due to the presence Of ~ large .
number Of works by the greatest Of all
- a. -.kar o~Iax -nnltuvn fNr
out OF two dozen OF the highest priced
Turner's only four were Of! paintings. These
latter. however. were at the very top OF the
Aist and obtained great prtces-7,7 100 guineas
for the Morning After the Storm 5000
g~uineas for .The Beach at Hastings' and
$500 guineas for "The Storm. In addition
10 the supreme masterpiece Of .Mortlake'
already mentioned. the price Of which
exceeded by 400 guineas the highest
ever paid for a Turner at auction, We.
$500 guineas for Venice: The Dogana
was the Holland sale in tho height OF the
season, up TO which events had been lead
Ing a to b climax Of q c~resoendo, that
brought this q many more rare works
to this front and created several fresh rec
ords.
This collection Of the late Stephen Hol-
land proved to be worth the immense sum
Of Ei6s, 600. and that he was q fortunate as
we'll asa judioious buyer In proved by the
fact that the sMortlake' was bought at the
Price sale In 1895 for the comparatively
small sum OF $500 guineas. Next to the
Turner's his collection RAJ remarkably rich
In fne examples Of the Barbizon school. OF
Corot. Troyon, Diaz. Daubigny and the
rest. The ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS sale also
helped to swell the number Of these MASTER
pieces OF the modern French landscspists.
Seven Corots were sold for over 500 ~gulneas.
and the price Of four Of them ran into four
figures each. the highest being 5000 g~uineas
for "A River Scene 2,e0O guineas for
aL'Etang' and 2.iso. guineas for .The Edge
Piles were D%aubisny's .0ise; Morning.
$500 guineas; Troyon's .The Ferry $500
cas-; c. Jacques's THE Flock $500 ~guineas;
and Lhermitte's The Cleaners: Evening"
2.50o guineas. Apart from the Turner's
held it's " against these much priced
examples Of Continental art for II We except
Constable's Salisbury Cathedral which
obtained the highest price OF the year,
1900 g~uineas. the British artist Ii a consider
able way behind his Continental brother.
Two OF Linnell seniors landscapes were
best placed on the list. -The Timber Wagon
ut also guineas. n Carrying Wood
1000 guineas. Millais's The Fringe OF the
Moor and THE Sound Of Many Waters
at l,lUU RulT'Sub uptcCS CbIl6 u6XJI DuI inc
great Victorian artist reached his highest
point with a figure subject-tho we'll known
sGambler's Wife," 2,lO0 guineas.
The early English portrait painters have
generally provided the sensation Of the year
10 the way Of top prices. but in this past
season Of Landscape monopoly their works
have been comparatively unobtrusive
though nevertheless distinguished. None
OF them wen approached their records.
Gainsborough stood FIRST with $50 guineas
for Q portrait Of his daughter. Mary Fischer,
and Rasburn's sweet and dignfhed por-
taits OF two Scottish gentlewomen. Mrs.
Mackenzie Of Drumtochty." $500 ~guineas.
and Mrs. Hay $500 guineas. showed sThe
Scottish Reynolds In his BEST vein. Law
renee, who held the record last year with
the highest priced Observation-Disclosures
innocence 5000 guineas was repre-
sented by MRS. Allnutt.' which realized
1900 ~guineas. and Romney and Reynolds
were close together In the middle position,
the former with Mira. Dorothea Morley
2.7b0 ~guineas. and the latter with Lady
Eastwood and Child 2,eO0 guineas. The
chief among living British artists to mako
an appearance was O~rchardson. whoss
we'll known Hard Hit. at the Roberts sale,
fetched $500 guineas. n his Napoleon
on Board the Bellerophon" 10 smaller YER
sion OF the picture In the Tate Gallery,
1900 ~guineas. at the Holland sale. Afeat-
ure Of the season was the appearance Of q
--~.,. - pnvarhtllv paipfod iptorIo~. r.