The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s recent exhibition, Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300-1350, offers a vibrant exploration of colour and perspective that imbues the room with a striking modernity, one that has garnered significant attention. The artworks in this exhibition reframe the art historical moment: Duccio di Buoninsegna and his contemporaries experimented with naturalism and perspective while simultaneously maintaining Gothic and Byzantine styles. The New York Times dubbed the exhibition the show of the season, bringing renewed focus to a period that has long felt like an afterthought for a contemporary-focused market.
In financial markets, stocks often exhibit price ‘momentum’ due to investors’ reactions to new information. This is partly caused by investors’ immediate reactions but also driven and sustained by expectations that others will react.1 Unlike equities, art is an inherently ‘illiquid’ asset class, an emotional asset influenced by evolving market taste. In this sense, a ‘large event’ is required to trigger a price impact. Accordingly, the sustained and reinforcing response to the Siena exhibition has sparked momentum and revitalised interest in the Old Masters period.
The auction results at the close of 2024 provide compelling evidence of renewed vitality for Old Masters in a market that has been consistently preoccupied by 20th- and 21st-century works. This interest is evident among both institutions and collectors. In December, the Louvre made a £2.46 million purchase of Tiepolo’s Guilty Puchinello at Christie’s in London, far exceeding presale estimates. The next day, at Sotheby’s, Botticelli’s The Virgin and Child Enthroned sold for £9.96 million, soaring beyond its £2-3 million estimate. These results underscore the potential for Old Masters to recapture relevance as dynamic players in an evolving market where collectors increasingly diversify beyond contemporary art. With growing discussion around such works, influenced in part by the exhibition, the upcoming Old Masters auctions in New York in February will be particularly interesting to follow.
The Siena exhibition is scheduled to travel to London in March 2025. Its reception will offer further insights into the outlook on sustained engagement for works from this period. We are eager to see if the enthusiastic reception in New York will be replicated, perhaps even exceeded. London’s historic role as a hub for the Old Masters market makes it an ideal venue to sustain this momentum. The exhibition’s success comes at a moment when the art market is increasingly searching for stability and diversification. The reception of this exhibition, with its appreciation for the art history, suggests a reassuring counterbalance to outlooks that are increasingly focused on luxury items. Moreover, its success has resurfaced discussion around the value and relevance of Old Master works in today’s market. Although results for Old Masters do not rival the headline-grabbing sums of Post-War and Contemporary auctions, the momentum of late 2024 suggests a potential shift in focus and offers a hopeful outlook for the broader art market.
Image credit: Details of Pietro Lorenzetti's The Crucifixion, 1340s, The MET
For more insights about the Old Masters Auction Market, please see our latest report here.
