Receipt for Goya painting may see $45,000 at Sotheby's

The original receipt for a Goya painting that starred in Danny Boyle's 2013 film Trance will be offered as part of Sotheby's June 5 auction of Music and Manuscripts in London.

Goya Receipt auction Trance
Goya received 6,000 reales for his six celebrated paintings



The receipt is for a celebrated series of six paintings on the theme of witches and witchcraft, including Vuelo de brujas (Flight of the Witches), which were purchased by Goya's patrons, the Duke and Duchess of Osuna, near Seville.

Written in Goya's own hand and dated Madrid, 27 June 1798, it is expected to sell for £25,000-30,000 ($37,768-45,320).

Goya Vuelos de Brujas
The supernatural was a recurring theme in romanticism, the genre to which much of Goya's work belongs



Vuelo de brujas is the star of Danny Boyle's art heist movie, with the work supposedly stolen following a dramatic auction scene. The scene features Sotheby's deputy chairman Lord Mark Politmore, who brings down the hammer on the tiny work.

The receipt reveals that Goya received a payment of 6,000 reales for the six paintings, which remained at the Duke and Duchess' Alameda de Osuna until 1896, when the ducal palace and library were sold at auction. Vuelo de brujas is now housed in Madrid's Prado museum.

Also included in the series is El hechuzado por fuerza (Bewitched by force), which is held in the National Gallery in London and La cocina de las brujas (The witches' kitchen), which is held in a private collection.

A further two works are in the Fundacion Lazaro Galdiano in Madrid, while El Convidado de piedra (The stone guest) is untraced.

The auction shows that even non-art items associated with top artists can bring thousands at auction.

Paul Fraser Collectibles is currently offering signed letters from Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

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