The two Old Master sessions in London have proved the good trend of the sector, confirming the positive results achieved by Christie’s in the last days. Sales almost totalled 51.5 million pounds and 76.7% of the lots were sold, 93% if we consider their value. The evening sale achieved the second highest profits ever for the sector, with a 42% increase compared to last year’s sales. It is also the second total takings of an Old Master auction ever to be realized in Europe. During the auction, nineteen new records were established and twenty lots were sold for more than a million dollars.

THE GETTY MUSEUM PAYS TRIBUTE TO BAROQUE PORTRAIT SCULPTURE OF BERNINI’S GENIUS

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the most relevant artist of all baroque art, the one who was able to embody and translate in images the ideals and thrills of his era, dominating undisputed the Roman artistic scene for more than sixty years, becomes “peace ambassador” between Italy and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. After various confrontations, ended at the beginning of the year, on the restitution by the US museum of stolen Italian masterpieces (the Getty displayed 40 pieces that came from the illegal market and therefore belonged to our country), the exhibition dedicated to Bernini is a ploy to sign a new chapter on cultural relations between Italy and the United States.