Collection of Curator, Dr. Everett Fahy, Leads Christie's October Old Masters Sale

COLLECTION OF DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR AND CURATOR,
DR. EVERETT FAHY, LEADS
CHRISTIE’S OCTOBER OLD MASTERS SALE

New York – Christie’s is honored to announce the sale of the personal collection of Everett Fahy – one of the most accomplished and respected art historians of the past century – as a highlight of the Old Masters sale in New York on 26 October. Comprised of 46 lots, the collection was formerly installed in Dr. Fahy’s New York apartment, designed by Mark Hampton, and includes paintings, works on paper, and objects from the 14th to 20th centuries that reflect Dr. Fahy’s refined taste and keen eye. Dr. Fahy is the former John Pope-Hennessy Chairman of European Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and former Director of the Frick Collection, and is widely recognized as one of today’s most distinguished scholars of Italian Renaissance art, with extensive publications to his credit. Formed over the course of the last forty years, his stylish and eclectic collection is offered this fall with attractive estimates and, in several instances, without reserve, marking this sale as an opportunity to acquire first-rate artworks with esteemed provenance at accessible price points.

Emma Kronman, Head of Sale, Old Masters, comments: “Thisseasonwe are truly honored to present Everett Fahy’s personal collection of paintings, drawings, prints, illuminations, and works of art, which reflect the highly sophisticated eye of a connoisseur who is among the greatest art historians of his day. Dr. Fahy’s collection also provides a fascinating and intimate window into the world of a scholar who counted among his friends and advisees some of the most important curators and collectors of the 20th century.”

Highlighting the group is a remarkably fresh and beautifully preserved panel showing Saint Peter by an artist close to the great Sienese master Duccio di Buoninsegna (estimate: $150,000-250,000), which is among several works that were given to Dr. Fahy by his mentor and predecessor as Chairman at the Metropolitan Museum, Sir John Pope-Hennessy. A carved Chinese jade disk (estimate $1,000-1,500) was a gift to Dr. Fahy from Brooke Astor on the occasion of his retirement, and a portrait of him by Derek Hill (estimate: $400-600) was a gift from a group of Dr. Fahy’s collector friends on the occasion of his 70th birthday.

Other highlights of the collection include: a fresh and colorful scene from Tasso by Giovanni Battista Lama, which Dr. Fahy acquired from his friend the art dealer Paul Ganz and which was exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (estimate: $12,000-18,000); a charming early work by Francesco Solimena that formerly belonged to the Kansas Museum of Art (estimate: $10,000-15,000); a 15th-century Florentine marble bust (estimate: $3,000- 5,000); and a splendid fragment from a luxurious Vatican choir book produced for Pope Leo X by one of the most famous and accomplished illuminators of the Italian Renaissance, Attavante degli Attavanti (estimate: $15,000- 20,000).

IMAGES CLOCKWISE: ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (1452-c.1525), an illuminated, border from a missal of Pope Leo X, illuminated, manuscript on vellum [Florence, c.1520]. $15,000-20,000 | A White Marble Bust Of A Boy, CIRCLE OF ANTONIO ROSSELINO, 15th Century, On a 20th century veined cream and red marble bases, $3,000-5,000 | GIOVANNI BATTISTA LAMA (NAPLES C. 1660-1740/8) Rinaldo called back to arms by Ubaldo and Carlo; or Aeneas, being urged to leave Carthage, oil on canvas, $12,000-18,000 | CIRCLE OF DUCCIO DI BUONINSEGNA, (?SIENA C. 1255/60-1318 SIENA), Saint Peter, tempera and gold on panel, a fragment, $150,000-250,000 | FERDINAND-VICTOR-EUGÈNE DELACROIX (CHARENTON-SAINTMAURICE 1798-1863 PARIS), Studies of roses and other flowers, pencil on two joined sheets of paper, $3,000-5,000 | FRANCESCO SOLIMENA, (CANALE DI SERINO 1657-1747 BARRA), The Rest on the Flight into Eygpt, oil on canvas, $10,000-15,000

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