Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Da Vinci's 'Head of Bear' drawing seen fetching up to $16 million

Published 05/08/2021, 04:04 AM
Updated 05/08/2021, 09:40 AM
© Reuters. Royal Collection Trust staff pose beside some of Leonardo Da Vinci's anatomical studies at A Life in Drawing, the largest exhibition of Leonardo's work in more than 65 years, at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace in London, Britain, May 23, 2019.  REU

© Reuters. Royal Collection Trust staff pose beside some of Leonardo Da Vinci's anatomical studies at A Life in Drawing, the largest exhibition of Leonardo's work in more than 65 years, at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace in London, Britain, May 23, 2019. REU

LONDON (Reuters) - A drawing of a bear's head by Leonardo da Vinci is seen fetching up to $16.7 million, potentially setting a record, when it heads to auction in July, Christie's said on Saturday.

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

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).

That could beat the 2001 sale for Da Vinci's "Horse and Rider" for more than 8 million pounds, a record for a drawing by the Italian Renaissance master, according to Christie's.

"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," Stijn Alsteens, International Head of Department, Old Masters Group, Christie’s Paris, said in a statement.

The drawing's ownership can be traced to British painter Thomas Lawrence and upon his death in 1830, it was passed to his dealer Samuel Woodburn. He sold it to Christie’s in 1860 for 2.50 pounds ($3.50), according to the auction house.

Its current owner has had it since 2008, it said.

© Reuters. Leonardo da Vinci's (1452-1519)

"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. ($1 = 0.7182 pounds)

($1 = 0.7145 pounds)

Latest comments

to cheap
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.