Muse Makes £29.2m

Christie's sale of Raphael's drawing Head of a Muse yesterday is worth noting for two reasons. Firstly the winning bid of £29.2m is a world record price for any work on paper, roughly twice its estimated value. Secondly, it shows that the recession hasn't hit the value of quality works by the old masters. While interest in contemporary codswallop by Big Names With No Talent has taken a tumble, Christie's sale of Old Masters and 19th-century art on Tuesday evening fetched a total of £68m from 28 lots sold, the highest total for an auction of old masters. Rembrandt's Portrait of a Man, Half-Length, With His Arms Akimbo, fetched £20.2m, a record for a Rembrandt at auction (title link).