As an acknowledged leader in Old Master Drawings, Christie’s sales in this field offer a wide range of European drawings by fifteenth- to nineteenth-century artists, and regularly achieve auction records for works by many of history’s greatest graphic artists, including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Hans Baldung, Lucas van Leyden, Pieter Bruegel, Hendrick Goltzius, Guercino, Claude Lorrain, Anthony van Dyck, Rembrandt, Antoine Watteau, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Giovanni Battista and Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, Francisco de Goya, and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.
Christie’s is the only auction house to hold regular auctions throughout the year across its salerooms in London, New York, and Paris. A focus on quality, scholarship and distinguished provenance ensures that these sales attract a wide audience of collectors and public institutions, which in turn is reflected in the exceptional auction results. Old Master Drawings collections offered at Christie’s have set benchmarks for the market for nearly a century, early among these the Oppenheimer collection (1936) and that of the Dukes of Devonshire at Chatsworth (1984 and 1987). More recently, notable collection sales include those of I.Q. Van Regteren Altena (2014-2015), Brian Sewell (2016), Rugby School (2018), Robert Landolt (2019), and the fashion designer Herbert Kasper (2021).
Alongside auction activity, the department offers a bespoke private sales service, providing our clients with flexibility and discretion when buying or selling works of art outside of the auction calendar.
Please do not hesitate to contact one of the department’s specialists based in London, New York and Paris for a free and confidential valuation or to discuss the current market.