Canaletto (1697-1768) Venice, the Grand Canal, Looking Northeast from Palazzo Balbi to the Rialto Bridge £18,600,000 ($32,568,600) Sotheby’s London July 7, 2005
Despite the multimillion-dollar auction prices that the most exciting Old Master paintings and drawings continue to achieve at public auction, the Old Master market itself is in a curious state of flux. Though clearly a favorite among curators and scholars, Old Masters (at least in America) have long been surpassed in popularity by Impressionism and modern art – and the market lags far behind contemporary art, with its speculative heat.
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