LONDON.-Two distinguished private collections will form the core of the forthcoming Evening sale of Old Master Paintings at Sotheby’s on Wednesday, December 5, 2007. A superb array of works from the collections of the Swedish nobleman, Gustaf Adolf Sparre (1746-1794), and noted European collector Dimitri Mavrommatis will be presented in addition to examples by widely celebrated names like Frans Hals, Vanvitelli, Andrea Mantegna, Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Davidsz. de Heem, with many works fresh to the market.

From the Collection of Gustaf Adolf Sparre (1746-1794) - The 18th century brought peace and great prosperity to Sweden, an atmosphere which saw the Enlightenment flourish. From the middle of the century onwards, generations of wealthy young Swedes were encouraged to make the Grand Tour and Paris was the magnet to which they flocked. Gustaf Adolf Sparre – a nobleman born into a wealthy Gothenburg family – was no exception and he undertook his Grand Tour of the Low Countries and France between 1768 and 1771. While on tour, he amassed a collection of some 100 old master paintings and even though Paris undoubtedly made a great impression on the young Sparre, it was his travels in the Low Countries that principally inspired his collecting tastes and set him on a course that resulted in a collection that was highly unusual for the time. As the trend for French and Italian art reached its peak in his native Sweden, Sparre went against the grain, choosing instead to assemble a collection of Dutch and Flemish 17th century cabinet pictures.

Some 38 works from the Gustaf Adolf Sparre Collection will be presented for sale, the vast majority of which have not been seen on the open market since the 1770s. Remarkably the group of works has stayed together as a collection since the late 18th century. Among the collection’s most notable offerings will be important works by David Teniers the Younger, Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Adriaen Van der Werff, Adriaen and Isack van Ostade, Jan Steen, Gabriel Metsu and Hendrick Van Balen.

First hung in the Sahlgren-Sparre Palace in Gothenburg, which Sparre redecorated in the 1770s in the latest styles, the paintings were later moved, in 1855, to southern Sweden, where they have remained until now. Many of the paintings were mounted in neoclassical gilt frames that were created especially for them and in which they remain in today.

A signed still life by David Teniers the Younger will spearhead the collection and it is thought to be unique in the artist’s oeuvre; nothing in the genre of this charming work has been recorded before. Painted in 1635 when the artist was just 25 years old, the rare study, is expected to fetch £120,000-160,000. Interestingly, in the same year, the painting was shown in a work he executed depicting the interior of his study.

A re-discovered grisaille oil sketch by Anthony van Dyck, is a significant addition to his oeuvre. Estimated at £300,000-400,000, the sketch corresponds closely with the altarpiece he painted in 1629 – or shortly before – as a gift to the Dominican Convent of Saint Catherine in Antwerp, following the last wishes of his father who had died in 1622.

The collection of Dimitri Mavrommatis - Dimitri Mavrommatis comes from a line of Greek financiers and his passion for the arts first developed while he was living in New York in the early 1980s. At this time, his collecting focus was on French 18th century furniture and Impressionist paintings but by the 1990s he had expanded this to incorporate French Sèvres porcelain and Old Master paintings. In 2006, he was honoured with the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in recognition of his connoisseurship and significant contribution to the promotion of French taste and culture.

A group of some 15 old master paintings from Mavrommatis’ London residence will be presented for sale, all of which were purchased from the early 1990s onwards. The group is divided into two principal categories: works of Dutch and Flemish origin that date from the 17th century and works by the Italian and French masters of the 18th century.

By far and away the highlight of the collection - which is estimated to fetch in excess of £3.1 million - will be a remarkable pair of oils by the Italian master Canaletto depicting two of the most famous views in Venice; the entrance to the Grand Canal and the Church of SS.

Giovanni e Paolo with the celebrated equestrian statue of the condottiere, Bartolommeo Colleoni. Estimated at £1.5-2 million, the pair (entitled Venice, the Entrance to the Grand Canal, with the Church of Santa Maria Della Salute seen from the Piazzetta Venice, and a View of the Church of SS. Giovanni e Paulo and the Scuola di San Marco, with the Monument to Bartolommeo Colleoni, is likely to have been painted in England, where Canaletto resided for much of the period between 1746 and 1755. The format of the pictures, the techniques used, and their early association with an English patron strongly suggest that the pictures were painted in London, perhaps to order with a specific location in mind.

The prominent 18th-century patron and collector, Sir William St Quintin, is presumed to have commissioned the paintings or purchased them directly from the artist and it is highly likely that they were displayed in his London residence in Bruton Street before being moved to the family’s Yorkshire estate, where they passed by inheritance until 1994, the year they were acquired by Mr Mavrommatis.

The paintings are in remarkable condition and still remain in the mid-18th century Louis XV frames that were almost certainly created for them. The pair is estimated at £1-1.5 million.

Landscapes from the Dutch Golden Age are well represented in the collection with fine examples by two of the foremost practitioners in the genre, Jan Josefsz. van Goyen and Salomon van Ruysdael. Two works by Van Goyen - a pioneer in the development of landscape painting in Holland - will be offered and the most valuable of these is a rare and atmospheric winter landscape depicting groups of figures conversing and playing on a frozen river, beneath a dramatic winter sky that dominates the composition. Dating from 1630 and highlighting the artist’s mastery of the genre, the work, is expected to fetch £200,000-300,000. Salomon van Ruysdael’s A River Estuary with Cows in the Foreground Shallows, A Fisherman Unloading his Catch Beyond also carries an estimate of £200,000-300,000. This expansive landscape, which perfectly captures the vast openness of the low-lying Dutch landscape, was executed in 1657 in a far richer palette than previously used by Van Ruysdael.

From the same collection comes a portrait of Madame Boudrey by Jean-Marc Nattier, the favoured portrait painter of Louis XV. Marie-Genevieve Boudrey was widely considered to be the most beautiful woman of her time; she received the attentions of both the King and the Dauphin and tales of their liaisons were the subject of gossip among the French aristocracy. Nattier’s portrait of Marie-Genevieve, is estimated at £200,000-300,000 and it magnificently encapsulates the elegance and style of France in the mid-18th century.

In addition to the treasure trove of works from the two private collections, other standout works will include a rediscovered masterpiece by Jan Jansz. Den Uyl the Elder, an artist who has a high reputation as one of Holland’s foremost still life painters. Rubens himself owned three paintings by him; a testament to the regard in which he was held at the time. However, in spite of the extraordinary quality of his work, he is an artist about which little is known and his works are rarely seen at all. His captivating study, A Still Life with a Pewter Jug and an Overturned Tazza, has lain mysteriously undetected as a work by him since 1903 - and arguably much longer – as its