A sepia drawing 20 x 14 cm of a hunting scene by Goya was sold for $ 700K including premium by Sotheby's on January 28, 2009, lot 99. It is now estimated $ 600K for sale by Christie's in New York on January 24, lot 75.
I described it as follows in 2009 :
'Goya enjoyed drawing to the point of setting up some albums for his private use at some time between 1812 and 1820. One of them known as the sepia album includes a suite of scenes on the theme of hunters and their dogs.
'Our huntsman is at rest in a sunny day, gun down, looking straight to the artist. Details, like the shadow of the hat on his forehead, demonstrate the effectiveness of the artist. The dog is standing, leaning forward for a potential game, waiting for orders. The ground and landscape are only outlined, but it is quite sufficient to provide a nice ambience.'
I am now disputing the idea of albums constituted for the private enjoyment of the artist but it still looks clear that the drawings were not intended to be used as modelli for his oil paintings.
We must keep in mind that Goya was keen to experiment all the techniques of engraving. Most of the drawings in his albums have a serial number although most of them do not belong to a sequence. They were possibly a burst of creativity for printed illustrations that were never executed, superseded by the political involvement of the artist against the absolute monarchy of King Ferdinand VII.
SOLD for $ 1.1M including premium
I described it as follows in 2009 :
'Goya enjoyed drawing to the point of setting up some albums for his private use at some time between 1812 and 1820. One of them known as the sepia album includes a suite of scenes on the theme of hunters and their dogs.
'Our huntsman is at rest in a sunny day, gun down, looking straight to the artist. Details, like the shadow of the hat on his forehead, demonstrate the effectiveness of the artist. The dog is standing, leaning forward for a potential game, waiting for orders. The ground and landscape are only outlined, but it is quite sufficient to provide a nice ambience.'
I am now disputing the idea of albums constituted for the private enjoyment of the artist but it still looks clear that the drawings were not intended to be used as modelli for his oil paintings.
We must keep in mind that Goya was keen to experiment all the techniques of engraving. Most of the drawings in his albums have a serial number although most of them do not belong to a sequence. They were possibly a burst of creativity for printed illustrations that were never executed, superseded by the political involvement of the artist against the absolute monarchy of King Ferdinand VII.
SOLD for $ 1.1M including premium
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