Courtesy Adam Williams Fine Art Ltd.

Osias Beert, "Still Life with Oysters" (ca. 1610)

Francisco Zurbaran Florence Antiques Fair Fit at 50 Charles Beddington Norton Simon Shares Its Holdings

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With their patina of history, proven track record and timeless allure, Old Master paintings are a reliable and resilient place to park one’s capital in uncertain times. Sales figures from galleries, auction houses and fairs suggest that the Old Masters market is not only alive and well but thriving, invigorated by a steady stream of reattributions, such as the amazing rediscovered Francisco de Zurbarán shown at the European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) in Maastricht this past March. On the occasion of several events showcasing this category — Olympia International Art & Antiques Fair, Grosvenor House Art & Antiques Fair, Master Paintings Week and the Old Masters sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s — taking place in London this month and next, Art+Auction talks to the best dealers in the field about their highlights so far this year: what sold successfully, what didn’t sell but should have and what they’d like to own themselves.

Adam Williams
New York: 15th- to mid-19th-century European paintings

Johnny Van Haeften
London: 17th-century Dutch & Flemish paintings

Charles Beddington
London: 17th- & 18th-century Italian and European paintings

Fabrizio Moretti
Moretti, Florence, London and New York: 14th- to 18th-century Masters, especially Italian & Tuscan paintings

Konrad Bernheimer
Colnaghi, London and Munich: 15th- to 19th-century paintings & drawings

Richard Feigen
New York: Mannerist, Baroque, Neoclassical & British Romantic artworks

Jack Kilgore
New York: Dutch & Flemish and 19th-century French paintings

William Noortman
Maastricht: Dutch & Flemish and French Impressionist paintings

Jean-Luc Baroni
London: 15th- to early 20th-century paintings & drawings

"Master Minds" originally appeared in the June 2009 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's June 2009 Table of Contents.