Stolen Art DealerApollo in his chariot drives down on the serpent Python in a fiery, loosely brushed composition; the oil sketch shows the central figure and his team in strong reds and golds.
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Catalogue No. 1022 · Christie's · London
Apollo slays Python
About $824,286 in today’s money: 9 years of the typical US household’s income. Source
- Artist
- Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798-1863)
- Title
- Apollo slays Python
- Date
- 1850
- Medium
- Oil on paper laid down on canvas
- Size
- 65.5 x 60 cm (25 3/4 x 23 5/8 in.)
Eugène Delacroix made this oil sketch in 1850 as a study for the ceiling of the Galerie d'Apollon at the Louvre. Apollo drives his chariot down on the serpent Python, and the brushwork is loose and fiery, with strong reds and golds across the central figure and his team. The support is oil on paper laid down on canvas.
Christie's describes it as one of two autograph oil sketches for the ceiling. The other, a different composition, belongs to the Van Gogh Museum.
The sketch was in Delacroix's studio sale in February 1864, where it was lot 30 and was bought by Dauzats for 1,000 francs. By about 1870 it belonged to the Count of Villagonzalo in Paris. It later passed by descent to a private collector and then to a private collection in Madrid.
Christie's sold it in London on 12 June 2012 for £361,250, about $561,000 at the time of sale, against an estimate of £300,000 to £500,000.
The sale
- Auction house
- Christie's, London
- Date
- 12 June 2012
- Estimate
- GBP 300,000-500,000
- Sold for
- $561,392 (including buyer’s premium) · GBP 361,250
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Provenance
1864-02
The artist's studio sale, February 1864, lot 30. Acquired at the above sale by Dauzats (1,000 francs)
c. 1870
Count of Villagonzalo, Paris, circa 1870
undated
By descent to a private collector. Acquired from the above for a private collection, Madrid
2012-06-12
Sold Christie's, London
Sources
- Christie's lot page: Eugène Delacroix, Apollo slays Python (closed 12 June 2012)
- Christie's: Energetic, violent and complex, the art of Delacroix (collecting guide)
Prices include the buyer’s premium, in US dollars at the time of sale, unless marked as a hammer price.