A “luminous” watercolour painting by JMW Turner, depicting a Swiss landscape, is poised to fetch up to £600,000 at an upcoming Christie’s auction.
Since the British artist’s death in 1851, his watercolours from final tours of Switzerland have been among his most celebrated and highly prized works on paper.
The piece will headline Christie’s “Lines Of Vision: Celebrating 20 Years of Stephen Ongpin Fine Art” sale, part of its Classic Week next month.
Titled “The Lauerzersee With The Ruins Of Schwanau And The Mythen”, this “evocative” landscape is estimated to achieve between £400,000 and £600,000.
While many of Turner’s larger, commissioned views now reside in museums, this particular watercolour sketch, created during his travels, remains a rare example still held in private hands.
The artwork, which has a well-documented provenance tracing back directly to Turner himself, has been described by the auction house as “luminous” and “exceptionally well preserved”.
It depicts the landscape below the eastern slopes of the Rigi, the famous peak popular with 19th century tourists, and the subject of many watercolours by Turner, including The Blue Rigi.
In 2006, Christie’s sold that piece for £5.8million, a world record for a work on paper by Turner, which still stands.
That same year Stephen Ongpin Fine Art was opened and has since established itself as a specialist in master drawings and works on paper.
The upcoming auction will comprise approximately 100 drawings and works on paper spanning 500 years from old masters to contemporary, with estimates starting from £700 up to £600,000.
Christie’s said it “reflects the breadth and depth of categories, periods and price points central to the gallery’s identity”.
Other highlights of the auction include works by Tiepolo, Guercino and Boucher, and examples by Picasso, Klee, Matisse, and Frankenthaler.
Speaking about his decision to focus on drawings as an art dealer, Stephen Ongpin said: “I think it is because I have always been drawn (forgive the pun) to the very intimacy of works on paper, and to the connection they engender with the creative process at its most direct and unfiltered.
“This is what I find so endlessly fascinating about this field. I have sometimes likened the study of drawings to the act of standing next to the artist, looking over their shoulder, as they work out ideas on paper.
“Like a diary entry from another time and place, these drawings are often the beginning of a story.”
Referencing the upcoming Christie’s auction, which comes 20 years after he opened his art dealership, Ongpin said he was “delighted” to share some of his passion for drawings and to “introduce the work of the gallery to a wider audience and to a new generation of collectors”.
Christie’s head of sales Keith Gill said the auction was a “celebration of the gallery and Stephen’s longstanding and continued contribution to the field of drawings and works on paper.
“The works in the sale reflect Stephen’s erudite connoisseurship and passion which underpins the gallery and all the brilliance of the artists and the diversity of exceptional artworks he champions.
“We look forward to welcoming collectors, institutions and enthusiasts to the pre-sale exhibition.”
The pre-sale exhibition will be on view from June 26 to July 2.
