Masterpiece by Francesco Guardi sells for $42,8 million

July 7th, 2011, source: Sotheby's / theartwolf.com

A monumental 115 by 199.5 cm. work, "Venice, a view of the Rialto Bridge, Looking North, from the Fondamenta del Carbon" is one of the four canvases that the artist painted on this large scale, all in the 1760s. The work was finally sold to an anonymous telephone bidder.

After the sale, Alex Bell, International Head of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Department, noted that the price paid for the Guardi "is the second-highest price ever paid at auction for an Old Master painting".

The previous auction record for a painting by Guardi was achieved in 1989, when ("View of the Giudecca and the Zattere") was sold at Sotheby's Monaco for FF 94,350,000 / $15,866,476 / £9,889,937.

At the same sale, Correggio's "Madonna and child with the infant Saint John the Baptist" sold for £3,6 million ($5,8 million) and Hans Schäufelein double-sided altarpiece panel, "The Dormition of the Virgin", achieved £2,7 million ($4,4 million) The auction totalled £47,640,900/ $76,492,229/ €53,238,651.

Related content

Masterpiece by George Stubbs sold for $36 million