To most people, Old Master paintings conjure up images of quiet, smoky, velvet-clad drawing rooms, but for how much longer? Fresh from its merger with younger Spanish dealers Jorge Coll and Nicolás Cortés, Colnaghi gallery hosted what was possibly the rowdiest night in Old Masters history last week. While Christie’s London was holding its evening sale around the corner in St James's, the gallery organised a private dinner for its younger collectors, on the promise that each of them would submit their best estimates for the selling prices of ten of the lots on offer. Drinks were liberally poured out while Jorge Coll acted as master of ceremonies for the evening. The charismatic dealer whipped up the enthused and increasingly competitive guests into a frenzy that saw some of them shrieking at the lots that sold for less than (or more than) their guesstimates. It’s a brave new world, but Konrad Bernheimer, the chairman of Colnaghi, looked on merrily, and was clearly pleased at how engaged the young’uns were. “It’s not just about buying and selling,” said Coll between lots. “It’s also about having fun.” Unsurprisingly, the night’s winner was Ambrose Nauman, son of the prominent New York Old Masters dealer Otto Nauman.
