Diane Nixon Old Master Drawings Sale Could Realize $5m

Jean Antoine Watteau A Man Playing the Guitar (Undated) is the highest-value lot announced by Sotheby's in its 'Master Drawings from the Collection of Diane A. Nixon' auction in New York on February 4.

• Pre-sale low estimates total $5.22m.

Diane A. Nixon, who was known as or Dee Nixon, assembled one of the most important private collection of Old Master drawings in the US, highlights of which were shown at New York's Morgan Library and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. She died in 2024, aged 89.

Preview snapshot

• 126 works are for sale.
• Estimates total: $5.22m (low) and $7.68m (high), excluding premiums.
• 0 lots have undisclosed estimates.

The highest-value lot announced is: Jean Antoine Watteau, A Man Playing the Guitar (Undated), which is estimated to sell for between $700,000 and $1m. It has been traded 6 times in the past.

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Withdrawn lots

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Guarantees: Sometimes an auction house guarantees to pay a seller for a work, regardless of whether the bidding reaches the reserve price, a figure that is typically confidential.

All figures are accurate at time of publication.