A highlight of the mixed-owner event in the morning will be a rare early drawing by the young Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) that is a preparatory study for The Healing of the Paralytic, a major early composition in the artist’s oeuvre from c.1617-20.
The 14½ x 9in (37 x 23cm) drawing features an old bearded man holding a bundle, executed in black, white and red chalk, while the verso shows various composition studies in pen and ink. Consigned from a North American private collection, the drawing has an estimate of $2.5m-3.5m.
Single-owner selection
The single-owner event that follows comprises the collection of Dr John O’Brien, who has spent the last 55 years assembling a collection of Italian Old Master drawings.
Among the highlights of the 133-lot ensemble is a study by Corrado Giaquinto (1703-66) for his work The Translation of the Relics of Saints Acutius and Eutychetes from Pozzuoli to Naples which was commissioned by the Cardinal Archbishop of Naples Giuseppe Spinelli and executed for the left-hand tribune wall in the Duomo of Naples, c.1744-45.
The 17½ x 11¼in (44 x 29cm) work in pen, ink and grey wash heightened with white on paper has an estimate of $40,000-60,000.