Courtesy Noortman Master Paintings, Maastricht

William Noortman

Courtesy Sotheby's

Frans van Mieris, "A Young Woman in a Red Jacket Feeding a Parrot" (1663)

Canaletto Gabriel Metsu Frans van Mieris the Elder Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Auction Sees Record Result in Washington, D.C., Area Florence Antiques Fair Fit at 50 When in Venice for... the Biennale When in... Rome, Italy

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What was your most important sale of the season?

Gabriel Metsu’s An Old Woman at a Meal, 1657-60, which we sold at tefaf to an East Coast collector [for a reported €3.6 million ($4.6 million)]. It has incredible provenance and is in amazing condition.

What was the sleeper picture of the season?

There was a fantastic Frans van Mieris the Elder painting of a young woman with a parrot that sold at Sotheby’s Old Masters sale in London in December for £3.6 million [$5.5 million], well over its estimate [£500-700,000 ($770,000-1 million)].

What didn’t sell at the gallery that’s great?

There’s a fresh-to-market Canaletto painting of Padua from circa 1755. It was originally owned by Tiepolo, when he was working in Venice. The asking price is €7.5 million [$9.5 million].

What advice would you give to collectors?

One of the key things I tell people is to take their time. If they’re inexperienced collectors, I encourage them to look at as much as they can and gather as much information as possible. That’s why TEFAF is so great. You can walk around the fair and quickly see 10 works by the same artist and choose the one you think is priced well and that you love.

"William Noortman" 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.