AMSTERDAM.- Today Sotheby’s sale of 19th century paintings, including the collection of Impressionist paintings of Jonkheer and Mrs Louis C. de Villeneuve, totalled €9.5 million, the best ever sale of 19th century paintings in the Netherlands . A total of 11 new artists' records were established. Predictably, the top price of the entire sale was fetched by the View in the Westerstraat Enkhuizen by Cornelis Springer, selling for €1.1 million, a world auction record for the artist and the second highest price ever paid for a painting in the Netherlands .

“We are absolutely delighted with these outstanding results”, said Eveline van Oirschot, Chairman of Sotheby’s Amsterdam and Head of the 19th Century Paintings Department. “The highlights, Springer’s View in Enkhuizen and the De Villeneuve Collection of Dutch Impressionists, generated a huge interest. The De Villeneuve Collection was 100% sold and totalled €3.9 million, doubling the pre sale high estimate. Today’s results significantly exceeded the previous record total of €7.1 million fetched in the April 2006 sale of 19th Century Paintings. New world auction records for the artists were established for a.o. Springer, Kruseman, Henriette Ronner, Jongkind, Klinkenberg, Mesdag, Tholen, Weissenbruch and Arntzenius.”

Top Lots: Johan Barthold Jongkind, Les patineurs à Overschie, $744,587, World auction record for the artist. Hendrik Willem Mesdag, The fishing fleet sailing out, $716,527, World auction record for the artist. Johannes Christiaan Karel Klinkenberg, A view from the Singel on the Munttoren, Amsterdam, $548,168, World auction record for the artist. Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch, Unloading the catch, $393,839, World auction record for the artist. Hendrik Willem Mesdag, ‘Bomschuiten’, $365,780. Willem Bastiaan Tholen, ‘Gezicht op de Nieuwe Haven’, $295,630, World auction record for the artist. Floris Arntzenius, The Spuistraat and Lange Poten in The Hague, $246,525, World auction record for the artist for a work on paper. Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël, A windmill in a polder landscape, $225,481. Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch, The house of the artist Millet, Barbizon, $210,449. Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch, Sunset near Boskoop, $150,320.