Germany and Austria – hammer highlights
Dorotheum (28/25/22/18% buyer’s premium) in Vienna could boast two seven-figure prices in as many days, including the highest Austrian auction price of this year so far. This was achieved on October 23 for Osman Hamdi Bey’s (1842-1910)Portrait of a Turkish Lady from Constantinople from 1881 (pictured right and previewed in ATG No 2412). The 3ft 11in x 2ft (1.2m x 60cm) canvas was one of only a handful of paintings by the artist that have come onto to the market in recent decades.
An anonymous phone bidder saw off the limited competition to secure the painting for a lower-estimate €1.5m (£1.3m).