19th Century European Art

On February 23rd 2009, Théodore Géricault’s haunting Portrait of Alfred and Elisabeth Dedreux, one of the highlights of the collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, sold for €9,025,000 - the highest price ever achieved for a non-Impressionist 19th Century European painting. And in an estate sale held three months later in London, a work by the Greek artist Kristoforos Lytras, realized £169,000, fought over keenly by Hellenic buyers. Numerous sales in excess of $1 million in the past three years achieved for artists as different as Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Alexej Harlamoff, Franz Xaver Winterhalter, William Bouguereau, and Barend Cornelis Koekkoek.

These results reflect the extraordinary variety of, and continued appetite for, classical art of the 19th century, from the great canons of art history to more regional artists, today highly prized by their countrymen.

Indeed the artists of the 19th century imbued the great classical traditions with an individuality of outlook which translated into an explosion of painting of styles across numerous countries, and condensed into a relatively short period. This variety is reflected in the many sales in which art of this period is offered. In addition to house sales and themed auctions devoted to Orientalist art, 19th century paintings are also offered in our sales of Old Masters & 19th Century Art which bring together paintings, drawings and sculpture that reflect the continuum of traditional art in Europe over a period that spans the 14th to the 19th century.

We invite you to contact one of our dedicated specialists listed below should you be interested in buying or selling 19th century art.

See also:
VIDEO: Inside Christie’s: Old Master and 19th Century Art

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