SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 25 April 2024, Thursday |

Da Vinci’s ‘Head of Bear’ drawing seen fetching up to $16 mln

A drawing of a bear’s head by Leonardo da Vinci is seen fetching up to $16.7 million, possibly setting a record, when it heads to auction in July, British auction house Christie’s said on Saturday.

“Head of a Bear”, a silverpoint drawing on a pink-beige paper, measures 7 cm (just under 3 inches) squared. The drawing is “one of less than 8 surviving drawings by Leonardo still in private hands outside of the British Royal Collection and the Devonshire Collections at Chatsworth,” the auction house says.

It will lead Christie’s “Exceptional Sale” on July 8 in London with a price estimate of 8 million to 12 million pounds ($11.14 million – $16.71 million).

According to Christie’s, that could beat the 2001 sale for Da Vinci’s “Horse and Rider” for over 8 million pounds, a record for a drawing by the Italian Renaissance master.

In a statement, Stijn Alsteens, International Head of Department, Old Masters Group, Christie’s Paris, said “I have every reason to believe we will achieve a new record in July for ‘Head of a Bear’, one of the last drawings by Leonardo that can be expected to come onto the market.”

“Head of a Bear” will go on display at Christie’s in New York on Saturday, then in Hong Kong later in the month before going on show in London in June.

    Source:
  • Reuters