Banksy and Rembrandt Boost Sotheby’s Sale to $192.7 Million

THE NEW YORK TIMES 

By Scott Reyburn

Rembrandt’s small, sketch-like 1632 panel painting, “Self-portrait, wearing a ruff and black hat,” sold for about $18.7 million. via Sotheby's

LONDON — It was conceived as a Covid-enforced stopgap. But is watching an auctioneer on a screen really what “live” art sales are going to be from now on? Tuesday night, Sotheby’s held a livestream auction of 65 artworks from seven centuries that replaced its traditional summer marquee sales of old master, Impressionist, modern and contemporary art in the British capital. Rembrandt’s small, sketch-like 1632 panel painting, “Self-portrait, wearing a ruff and black hat,” was a less obvious candidate for success in a high-tech “clicks-and-bricks” auction. One of just three Rembrandt self-portraits left in private hands, this was nonetheless pursued by six bidders to £14.5 million, or about $18.7 million, against a low estimate of £12 million. [More]