Claude Lorrain’s The Valley Of The Aniene, Near Tivoli, With The Ruins Of The Aqua Anio Novus Aqueduct (estimate $600/800,000) has not been seen in public since it was exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum, New York, some 40 years ago, and the occasion of this sale therefore provides the first opportunity in a long generation to study and appreciate its exceptional qualities. Historically resonant, elegant in composition and understated in the handling of the media, it epitomises Claude’s accomplishments in the field of drawing, at a moment when he was riding a wave of critical acclaim and professional success. It is through serene and imposing drawings such as that cemented the artist’s position as the ultimate recorder of the landscape, ruins and atmosphere of the Roman Campagna. Though the monuments and antiquities of Rome itself and its immediate surroundings had been drawn and painted by other artists since the earlier 16th century, it was only when Claude took to the wider countryside surrounding the Eternal City in the 1620s that these pastoral locations began to be widely appreciated as subjects – a fashion that was subsequently to endure more or less unabated until the late 19th century. This characteristically atmospheric work is one of the finest and most significant drawings by the artist to remain in private hands, and is particularly fascinating in that it depicts an identifiable location, with the ruins of the Aqua Anio Novus Aqueduct still surviving to this day.

In his relatively short-life, Jean Antoine Watteau managed to have a hugely significant impact on the development of Rococo art in France and beyond. A Scene From The Commedia dell'arte: A Girl Resisting The Advances Of A Comedian And An Actress Executing A Step (estimate $500/700,000) is an exquisite and extremely elegant drawing by the artist, depicting a scene from the “Commedia dell’Arte”, an early form of theatre, that originated in Italy in the 15th century. Spreading in popularity throughout Europe, it was of the utmost fashion in Rococo France by the 18th century. The two figures on the left, drawn predominantly in a vibrant red chalk, with touches of black lead, appear to depict the timeless scene of a beautiful woman, spurning the advances of an enthusiastic suitor. The equally beautiful woman on the right side of the sheet, does not seem to directly relate to the aforementioned narrative, but rather, appears to be an actress or dancer performing a step. The two groups of figures combined form a delightfully balanced “mis en page”, in which Watteau, captures both the elegance of the figures he portrays, coupled with an expressiveness and sense of movement that only a draughtsman of his immense virtuosity could achieve.

Goya’s penetrating vision of humanity and intense visual imagination mark him out as one of the first truly modern artists. Throughout his life, he expressed his most private thoughts and feelings in his drawings, and gathered them at various stages of his career into eight remarkable "Private Albums". No Ilenas Tanto La Cesta (Don't Fill The Basket So Full) (estimate $1/1.5 million) originates from the Black Border Album, named for its most visible characteristic: the distinctive lines that frame each drawing within this group. Here the artist has portrayed an elderly woman, hunched over a basket of food, some of which has fallen on the ground to the right of her. Goya has added his own proverbial inscription to the lower centre of the drawing: No Ilenas tanto la cesta (Don’t fill the basket so full), to suggest that the viewer can learn from the mistakes made by the elderly woman depicted. The combination of media that Goya uses in this drawing remain in particularly exceptional condition, making this museum quality drawing one of the most important works by the artist to appear on the open market in recent years.

Samuel Palmer was undoubtedly one of the most important and influential artists of the Romantic era, working in Britain. A particular emphasis is placed on his celebrated early career, a period in which he was living in the Kent village of Shoreham. His work from this “Shoreham period”, of which Landscape With A Church, A Boat And Sheep (estimate $250/350,000) is a wonderful example, is executed in his visionary style. Drawn in Palmer’s characteristic combination of brown ink and wash with scratching out, the present work depicts a scene of rural bliss, with two shepherds and their flock bathed in dappled light, whilst behind them a boatman drifts past an idyllic village Church.

Degas’ two engrossing passions, horseracing and ballet, provided him with a rich and exciting social life and the artistic inspiration for the greatest part of his œuvre. As a member of the prestigious Jockey Club, Degas was a habitué of the racecourses at Deauville and Longchamps, where he could study the beauty of thoroughbred horses at close quarters. Images of racing were a central part of his career, and his pastels of the subject are among his most celebrated works, of which Deux jockeys (estimate $80/120,000) is a perfect example.

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