Sotheby’s is withdrawing the Velázquez, which was supposed to be auctioned for 32 million euros, without explanation

The substance was withdrawn from auctions by the multinational company without giving any reason. “Bid closed” was the cryptic message posted by the auction house on its website, giving rise to all sorts of speculation.

Some market insiders pointed out on social media that the true meaning of the message stemmed from a hypothetical purchase of the painting by a renowned American museum. Sotheby’s headquarters in New York is closed for the Christmas holidays and will not resume operations until January 2nd.

It was painted in the early 1630s and brought from Spain under strange circumstances in the 19th century. After the portrait of Juan de Pareja, which sold in London in 1970 for $5.5 million, it is the most important work by Velázquez to come on the market in the last half century.

The work has been in a private collection since 1978, those appointed to act as auctioneers said as they announced it as the star of the old masters auction planned for February.

The royal portrait hung for many years in the Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid next to the black-clad Philip IV. It is known to have been transferred to France after the Napoleonic invasion in 1808 and in the Spanish Gallery of King Louis Philippe I in the Louvre was issued.

In 1838 the cloth was sold to the banker and bibliophile Henry Huth. It remained in his family’s hands until it was put back on the market in 1950. It was the last time the fabulous painting was sold at public auction before it passed into another private collection in 1978, about which Sotheby’s has not disclosed details.

According to Artnews, a trade magazine that cites a report from Art Basel and the UBS company, the painting was expected to boost the market for European old masters, which accounted for just 4% of the $67.8 billion in art market sales in 2022.