If you've got a moderately priced 18th century oil painting of Venice hanging around the house somewhere, we'd suggest getting it over to a Chevy Chase auction house as quickly as humanly possible.
'Cause you're gonna get decent value for that sucker, according to the Washington Post.
An anonymous Bethesda woman submitted an 18th century oil painting of the Grand Canal in Venice that is believed to be the work of an associate of Giovanni Antonio Canaletto. Canaletto's paintings typically command millions, but those by his associates usually claim six figures.
The panting was initially valued by the Chevy Chase auction house Sloans & Kenyon at between $6,000 to $8,000, according to the Post. The president of the auction house explained that typically with unsigned work, they value it conservatively and allow the market to drive the final price.
Thirteen phone bidders, nine of whom called from Europe, competed with live bids in the auction house. It sold to a bid in-house from an agent representing a London buyer. The winning bid was $575,000, which was pushed up to the final tally with a 19.5 percent buyer's premium.
The previous high for a bid for a painting in the Washington area was $442,500 for "Hampstead Heath, Looking Towards London" by British artist John Constable, which sold at the same auction house when it operated as C.G. Sloan & Co., according to the Post. The buyer was also from London.
