A lively scene of a fish market achieves an outstanding result. Still lifes are popular in various price categories, all four works in Hackert's auction were sold, and Russian artists are in high demand.

At the auction on 16th May, bidders in the room, on the phones and online repeatedly demanded great stamina from each other. The fish market from the workshop of Frans Snyders was called with an estimated price of 20,000 euros, but in the end, there was a telephone bidder and a room bidder who both refused to let go of the large-format work. It was not until the result of 270,900 euros that the room bidder prevailed over his competitor. He is now the owner of a composition whose original is in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. In addition to the work sold here, a further workshop version can be found in the Louvre in Paris.

Still lifes were in demand in various price categories. A composition by Justus Juncker featuring a Chinese bowl with peaches, a Roemer glass, a silver cup and grapevines, signed and dated 1762, realised just over 25,000 euros, whilst Flowers and fruit on a stone plinth by Jan van Os realised 151,200 euros.

Works by Jacob Philipp Hackert were also in consistent demand. Four lots in a row came from his hand, all of which were sold in the auction, with the View of the Tiber and St Peter's from the Ponte Milvio, which sold for 110,000 euros, at the top of the list. His Fishermen with Boat on the Beach (result 65,500 euros), View of Aci Castello (result 25,200 euros) and Seated Dog in Landscape (result 12,600 euros) also found new owners.

The works by Russian artists met with overwhelming interest in the auction forcing bidders to pursue them for a long time. Foremost among these was a view of Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus by Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindszhi. A stay in the region made the Russian landscape painter a specialist of this motif, and another view of the mountain by his hand can be found in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Numerous telephones lines were occupied, where bidders had to hold their own against competition from the Internet. At 226,800 euros, the painting achieved the second-highest result of the day.

Further exceptional highlights included Konstantin Yegorovich Makovsky's Portrait of a Young Woman (result 60,400 euros) and Vladimir Yegorovich Makovsky's Young Peasant Woman with an Apple Basket (result 151,200 euros).

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Jan Bykowski
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