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An ultra-rare portrait of famous Italian painter Sandro Botticelli could fetch $ 80 million or more when it goes on sale at Sotheby’s on Thursday.
The auction marks the first big test of the art market this year, as well as the willingness of global collectors to pay eight or nine figures for trophies during the health crisis and market volatility. If it works well, it can help bolster the reputation and prices of Old Master paintings at a time when most of the big pennies in the art world are looking for newer, flashier works by post-artist artists. war and contemporaries.
“There is an engaged global audience and interest in this painting,” said Charles Stewart, CEO of Sotheby’s.
Botticelli’s painting, called “Young Man Holding a Cockade” is believed to have been painted around 1480. It is one of a dozen portraits attributed to Botticelli and one of the few in private hands.
The seller is believed to be owned by the late billionaire Sheldon Solow, who bought the piece in 1982 for $ 1.2 million.
To market the work during the pandemic, Sotheby’s exhibited the painting across the world to collectors and potential bidders.
“The young man in the picture has taken more trips during Covid than anyone we know,” said Stewart.
Botticelli is most famous for “Birth of Venus,” which depicts the Roman goddess emerging from a seashell. The previous record for her work was the 2013 sale of “The Virgin and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist” for $ 10.4 million.
The work will be part of Sotheby’s “Master Paintings & Sculpture” sale on Thursday.
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