Guardi-Venice-a-View-of-the-Punta-della-Dogana-and-the-Church-of-Santa-Maria-della-Salute-one-of-a-pair-2.jpg?quality=80&w=970″ alt=”Painting of a view of teh Venice grand canal held with a man with white shirt and white gloves. ” width=”970″ height=”647″ data-caption=’Francesco Guardi’s <em>Venice, a View of the Punta della Dogana and the Church of Santa Maria della Salute,</em> one of a pair of works estimated to sell together for $10-15 million. <span class=”lazyload media-credit”>Sotheby's</span>’>
In May, Sotheby’s will present a dedicated auction featuring one of the most significant Old Masters collections to come to market in recent years. Assembled by Thomas Saunders III and his wife, Jordan Saunders, the collection is expected to achieve between $80 million and $120 million. Comprising fifty-six works, Elegance & Wonder: Masterpieces from the Collection of Jordan and Thomas A. Saunders III is expected to break the record for any Old Masters sale at auction, surpassing the $76 million benchmark set by the Fisch Davidson collection in 2023.
Over a span of twenty-five years, with the guidance of George Wachter, Sotheby’s Chairman for the Americas, the couple relentlessly pursued masterworks by some of the most celebrated artists of the 16th through 19th Centuries, embracing a broad geographical scope that included German, Dutch, Flemish, Italian, Spanish and French art.
“The Saunders were extremely dedicated, determined collectors. They collected Old Masters in earnest and were solely focused on buying what they loved, with a real eye for beauty and a focus on quality,” Wachter told Observer. “They assembled a one-of-a-kind collection spanning still life, landscapes, portraits and more. Helping to assemble their collection is a true bright spot in my career, and it was an honor for me to help guide them through their collecting journey.”
As a testament to its ‘museum quality’ status and a reflecting the Saunders’ deep ties to the region, the collection was until recently on long-term loan at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art. Many of the works going on the block in May carry remarkable provenance; each is a chapter in the couple’s decades-long pursuit of excellence. A pioneering figure on Wall Street, Thomas Saunders built his fortune over twenty years at Morgan Stanley, where he served as a partner and managing director. The couple’s collecting journey was focused on other areas—Classic English and European furniture, silver and ceramics and Chinese Export porcelain—before they shifted their attention to Old Master paintings, pursuing some of the most exceptional examples of the category.
Among the highlights of the sale is a pair of Francesco Guardi’s iconic views of Venice: Venice, A View of the Punta della Dogana and the Church of Santa Maria della Salute and Venice, A View of the Churches of San Giorgio Maggiore and Santa Maria della Salute. Expected to fetch between $10 million and $15 million, these works hold special significance for Jordan Saunders, as Guardi was one of her first great loves in art collecting. It was in 1998, when she encountered one of his intimate views of the Redentore at a Sotheby’s exhibition, that she and her husband began their long collaboration with Wachter. Not long after, the couple acquired the two Guardi masterpieces in a Sotheby’s auction. In Jordan’s words, “While he got a sandwich, we got the paintings.” Other significant vedute of Venice by Canaletto and Vanvitelli will also feature in the auction.
Another standout lot is a magnificent floral still life by the Flemish master Jan Davidsz De Heem, executed around 1674 towards the end of his illustrious career. Beyond its beauty and historical significance, the painting’s path to the Saunders collection is as captivating as the work itself. The couple acquired it during one of their most adventurous collecting escapades—a whirlwind trip to Rome. The circumstances of the purchase were nothing short of rocambolesque: the seller, hoping to keep the transaction hidden from his wife, hauled the painting up a flight of stairs inside a garbage bag. De Heem, renowned for his meticulous attention to detail and masterful use of light and shadow, infused his compositions with layered symbolism, and beneath the luminous blooms, the painting offers a subtle commentary on the political and religious turmoil of its time while also serving as a vanitas, a meditation on the fleeting nature of earthly existence and the inevitability of decay.
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Another exceptional still life poised to command a high sum in the sale is Still Life with a Cauliflower, a Basket with Eggs, Leeks, and Fish, and Assorted Kitchen Utensils by the renowned 18th-century Spanish still-life painter Luis Meléndez. The Saunders acquired the work after braving a snowstorm to travel to Montreal to view the prestigious Hornstein collection of Old Masters. Their determination paid off: they secured nearly a dozen paintings, but only on the condition that they could also acquire the coveted Meléndez bodegón. As works by Meléndez rarely appear at auction, this painting is expected to fetch between $5 million and $8 million in May.
Also from the prestigious Hornstein collection is a painting by Rembrandt’s pupil Gerrit Dou with a masterful display of illusionistic technique. This meticulously detailed work captures an artist’s studio with remarkable depth and subtle lighting effects, functioning as a meta-commentary on the artist’s dual role as both intellectual and creator. At its center, an elderly man sits in front of an easel, absorbed in reading a large manuscript. Surrounding him are symbolic objects—a globe, a violin, a drum with a shield—each reinforcing themes of knowledge, artistry and the passage of time. Given its likely prestigious provenance and exceptional quality, the painting has a high estimate $7 million.
Among the sale’s most notable portraits is one of the finest works by Thomas Lawrence ever to come to auction. Executed in 1816, the painting depicts Julia, daughter of British Prime Minister Robert Peel, alongside a Blenheim spaniel, a symbol of refinement and her future as a distinguished lady. Lawrence, celebrated for his elegant and flattering portraits of high-society figures, also painted Julia’s mother, Lady Peel, in a portrait now housed in the Frick Collection in New York. This work is expected to fetch between $6 million and $8 million, with strong anticipation that it will surpass Lawrence’s previous auction record of $4 million set in 2006.
Also heading to auction is a rare pair of jewel-like miniatures by Frans Hals, one of the most influential painters of the Dutch Golden Age. Expected to achieve between $6 million and $8 million, the portraits depict a boy and a girl, believed by scholars to have been inspired by Hals’ own children. Created in the mid-to-late 1620s, a period when the artist was exploring genre scenes of musical performances alongside his signature formal portraiture, these works exemplify his lively, expressive brushwork. Recently exhibited at the National Gallery in London, the paintings were originally designed as decorative elements for a piece of furniture—possibly a cabinet for musical instruments.
Currently on view in London alongside Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary March sales, highlights from the Saunders Collection are already generating buzz. While Old Masters accounted for just 43 percent of the sector’s total sales value in 2023, according to the Art Basel & UBS report, the category remains highly unpredictable—often defined by either blockbuster moments or periods of stagnation. Unlike Modern and contemporary art sales, which benefit from a steady influx of new supply, Old Masters auctions hinge on the availability of rare, exceptional works. The sale of the Saunders Collection could significantly boost the category’s performance in 2025. “This is among the finest collections of Old Masters that we’ve had the privilege of offering throughout my entire career at Sotheby’s. It will be a major market moment,” said Wachter.
Despite a 22 percent year-on-year decline in sales volume, the U.S. remains the largest market for European Old Masters, accounting for 45 percent of global sales. The performance of Sotheby’s May Old Masters auctions in New York will likely reaffirm this dominance, underscoring American buyers’ ongoing demand for historically significant works and reinforcing a trend that has seen interest in Old Masters begin to extend beyond traditional collectors and into the realm of Modern and contemporary buyers.
