John Constable’s “The Lock,” one of the artist’s most famous works, has sold for £9,109,000 against an estimate of £8-12 million during the Sotheby’s December 9 Old Master & British Paintings Evening sale in London. The monumental 55 x 48 inch painting has remained in the same family collection for more than 150 years and was last seen on the market in 1855.Alex Bell, Joint International Head and Co-Chairman of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Department said: “The Lock belongs to a small group of pictures that define Constable’s oeuvre and genius. The artist’s absolute mastery as a landscape painter is everywhere in the picture and this was reflected in the result achieved tonight.“The painting was one of many museum-quality works presented in the sale, an unprecedented proportion of which were from private collections and came to the market for the first time in several generations. The combination of quality and freshness to the market are key in this field and certainly account for this evening’s strong results.”Other highlights of the £22.6 million sale included Jan Gossaert’s painting “The Virgin and Child,” which sold for £4,629,000 against an estimate of £4-6 million, setting a new auction record for the artist and for any early Netherlandish painting, and the left wing of the Dreux Budé Triptych which fetched £965,000 against an estimate of £400,000-600,000.
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