Old master sales show resilience amid art weakness

By Mike Collett-White

LONDON (Reuters) - Sotheby's sold Old Masters' paintings worth 13.3 million pounds on Wednesday, close to the top end of expectations and bucking the recent art market trend of disappointing results.

The top lot on the night was Frans van Mieris the Elder's "A Young Woman in a Red Jacket Feeding a Parrot," which fetched 3.6 million pounds including a buyer's premium compared with pre-sale estimates of 500-700,000 pounds without the premium.

Not far behind was a portrait on marble of 16th century Florentine banker Bindo Altoviti by Girolamo da Carpi, which went under the hammer for 3.1 million pounds, well above expectations of 200-300,000 pounds.

"This evening's sale showed enormous strength for quality paintings with attractive estimates that are fresh to the market," said Alex Bell, international head of Sotheby's old masters' department.

"The results prove that the market for old master paintings, which enjoys a stable collecting base, is both robust and resilient."

More than one third of the lots on offer, however, did go unsold, and auction houses have had time to revise down their estimates to reflect more cautious conditions.

The top end of the art market has held up well despite gathering financial gloom, but in October values weakened significantly and a series of auctions across the world fell far short of their low pre-sale estimates.

Experts argued that the old masters sector, which has seen less spectacular growth than contemporary art in recent years, could prove to be the most stable.