Van Regteren Altena Collection coming up for sale

Hendrick Goltzius
Study of a hand
Drawing
Van Regteren Altena collection

24 March 2014 | London

The collection of old master drawings of Jon van Regteren Altena (1899-1980), former head of the Teylers Museum printroom and director of the Rijksmuseum printroom, comprising some 1.100 drawings, will be sold by Christie’s in four consecutive sales:

Part I
London (Christie’s), 10 July 2014
Dutch & Flemish Drawings from the Renaissance to the Golden Age

Part II
Amsterdam (Christie’s), 10 December 2014
Dutch and Flemish drawings from 1500 to 1900

Part III
Paris (Christie’s), 25 March 2015
French and Italian drawings from 1500 to 1900

Part IV
Amsterdam (Christie’s), 13 May 2015
Dutch and Flemish drawings from 1500 to 1900

Part I contains 71 drawings by sixteenth and seventeenth-century Flemish and Dutch artists, including magnificent sheets by Hendrick Goltzius, Jacques de Gheyn, Rubens and Rembrandt. Goltzius’s Study of a hand (estimate 370,000-610,000 euro) is expected to go through the ceiling and reach a sale record for a drawing of this famous master. The small drawing of Samson and Delilah, preliminary to the painting by Rubens in the National Gallery London, has an estimate five times higher than the Goltzius sheet (1,8-3,1 million euro). There will be a lot of interest for this sale, which offers a unique chance for collectors and museums to buy great drawings, and the room will surely be packed.

The sale catalogue, both on line and in print, is expected early June.

See Christie’s press release, 24 February 2014