Sale of 'fraudster's' Rubens painting could bring $300,000

A sale of Old Masters & 19th Century Art at Christie's promises an exceptional selection of European paintings and sculpture from the defunct Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, based in Manhattan.

From the collection of bankrupt New York art dealer, Lawrence B Salander, the sale follows an auction of his antique furniture which raised $472,067 for Salander's creditors, earlier this month.

According to Christie's, the collection will be sold in line with a Chapter 11 plan approved by the US Bankruptcy Court. The auction takes place on June 9 in New York.

Salander's loss will offer great gains to collectors - the auction boasts a total of 130 Renaissance era and 19th century works.


Works in the sale include Sir Paul Ruben's An Allegory of Fortitude
($200,000-300,000, pictured left) and The Madonna and Child with the
Infant Saint John the Baptist and Saint Catherine, attributed to
Girolamo Mirola ($60,000-80,000, right)


Big names in the collection include paintings by Sir Peter Paul Rubens, Palma Vecchio, Jacopo Bassano, and the studio of El Greco, among others.

Among them is Vecchia's Imaginary Self-Portrait of Titian, estimated at $100,000-150,000 (a detail of which is pictured top right).

Both Salander and his Salander-O'Reilly Galleries were declared bankrupt in November 2007. According to prosecutors, he was arrested for defrauding his art buyer clients to fund a lavish lifestyle.

In other Rubens news, his painting A Commander Being Armed for Battle from the childhood home of Lady Diana Princess of Wales will appear for sale at Christie's this summer. It carries a pre-sale valuation of £8m-12m.

 

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