2023 is not quite over yet, but the first highlights of the 2024 auction year are already on the horizon. At the beginning of February, Sotheby's New York will offer a work by the Spanish Baroque master Diego Velàzquez that is almost never found on the auction market. The 6.5 foot high canvas shows a magnificent portrait of the Spanish Queen Isabel de Borbón, which was created in the 1620s, probably shortly after Velázquez was appointed court painter in 1623 by Isabel's husband, King Philip IV of Spain.
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Isabel was born in 1602 as the daughter of the French King Henry IV and his second wife Maria de' Medici. Her baptismal name was Élisabeth and, as the king's eldest daughter, she received the honorary title Madame Royale. After an initial marriage attempt with the House of Savoy failed, Elisabeth was betrothed to the Spanish Crown Prince Philip. At the age of just 13, Elisabeth made her way to Spain, where she was married to Philip, who was only 10 years old. In 1621, Philip IV and Isabel (as the French princess was known in her new homeland) ascended the Spanish throne. Isabel was interested in music and supported Spanish literature; it was only later that she became politically active, serving as regent when her husband traveled during the Catalan Revolt. Queen Isabel died in 1644 at the age of just 41. Of their eight children, only the youngest daughter, Maria Teresa, reached adulthood and married the French Sun King Louis XIV.
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Most of the portraits that Diego Velázquez painted of members of the royal family can be found in museums because of their importance. According to Sotheby's, the present portrait originally hung in the Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid (as a counterpart to a portrait of Philip IV that can now be seen in the Prado) before it came to France during Napoleon's invasion of Spain. Later it was exhibited in King Louis Philippe's Spanish Gallery in the Louvre. The painting then came to England, where it remained in the possession of the same family until 1950, who had it sold at public auction. It has been part of the current consignor's collection since 1978.
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The portrait of Isabel de Borbón will be auctioned as the top lot of Sotheby's "Master Paintings & Sculpture" auction in New York on February 1, 2024, with an estimate of around $35 million. Given the importance of the painting and the rarity of such a work by Velázquez on the auction market, the hefty sum does not seem excessive, even if it far exceeds the artist's current auction record. This was also set at Sotheby's in 2007, albeit in London, when Velázquez's depiction of Saint Rufina found a new owner for £8.4 million ($16.9 million.)
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In fact, Velázquez paintings of the caliber of the present queen portrait tend to cause a sensation when they are offered on the auction market. The last time this happened was in 1970, when Velázquez's Portrait of Juan de Pareja was auctioned at Christie's in London. However, this was not a courtly commission, but a portrait from the painter's studio, as Pareja was a slave in Velázquez's household and an employee in his workshop. Velázquez completed the outstanding portrait in Rome, where it received much attention when exhibited and earned its creator a commission for a portrait of the Pope. Juan de Pareja was granted freedom eight months after completing his portrait.
The Portrait of Juan de Pareja was auctioned in 1970 for £2.3 million (equivalent to about £44 million in 2023), three times the previous auction record for a painting. Given that the current auction record for a painting is $450.3 million, such an event is unlikely to happen again next February.
