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trending_up market calendar_today Friday, May 29, 2026

Pre-Raphaelite Masterpiece Expected to Rake in $1.3 Million at Auction

Christie's will auction 20 Pre-Raphaelite and Symbolist works from the collection of the late literary agent Albert Zuckerman across two sales in London this summer. The highlight is John Melhuish Strudwick's painting *Thy Music, faintly falling, dies away, Thy dear eyes dream that Love will live for aye* (1893), estimated at £700,000–£1 million ($950,000–$1.3 million) in the Old Masters Evening Sale on June 30. The work, which Zuckerman bought from Christie's in 2003 for £509,250, represents Strudwick's second-highest auction record. The following day, 19 more works from Zuckerman's collection will be offered in the Old Masters to Modern Day Sale, including pieces by John Anster Fitzgerald, William Bell Scott, Albert Joseph Moore, Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer, and Edgard Maxence.

The sale matters because it brings together a trove of second-generation Pre-Raphaelite and Symbolist art from a single distinguished collection, offering a rare opportunity to assess market demand for lesser-known but historically significant artists like Strudwick, who produced only 39 known paintings. The top lot's estimate—nearly double what Zuckerman paid in 2003—signals sustained or growing interest in the Pre-Raphaelite aesthetic, while the inclusion of works by Fitzgerald, Moore, and others provides a broader view of the movement's commercial viability. The auction also highlights the enduring appeal of the Zuckerman collection, following the successful sale of his Tiffany lamps last November.