A painting by Francesco Guardi or his son, «View of the Salute» in Venice, estimated between 80 000 and 120 000 FF (US $ 12,000 and 18,600) fetched a surprising bid of 9 980 000 FF (US $ 1,547,286) on December 9th 1999 at Drouot. Eric Turquin, the expert, had attributed this 55 x 80,5 cm painting to Giacomo Guardi and had estimated this work some US $ 50,000 a few hours before the sale. Belgian dealer Georges De Jonckheere in association with Richard Green of London bought the painting.
A similar work by Francesco Guardi is in the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum in Albi. The buyers have now to make sure that their acquisition is by this painter otherwise they are likely to suffer a big loss as Giacomo is only rated around US $ 100,000.
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