View of Olinda, Brazil
View at the holding institution
- Artist
- Frans Post
- Date
- 1666
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Attribution
- acceptedAccepted as Frans Post, dated 1666.
- Where it is now
- Private collection
Frans Post painted several views of Olinda and the search results for any one of them mix up the others, along with versions in the Rijksmuseum, the Thyssen and elsewhere. This record is for the dated 1666 canvas found in a Connecticut barn attic, and for no other.
Its documented history runs backwards from a dusty rediscovery to an unusually good eighteenth-century name. The painting moved through Parisian collections in the eighteenth century and at one point belonged to Cardinal Joseph Fesch, Napoleon's uncle and one of the largest picture collectors of his age. How it reached Connecticut is not established; it is thought to have been in the barn for more than a century before it was recognised in 1998.
The sale figures are reported both ways and mean different things: six million dollars was the hammer, 7.3 million the total with fees. Both are correct and neither is the other.
Provenance
- 18th century -Parisian collectionsdocumented
The painting passed through Parisian art collections during the eighteenth century.12
- Cardinal Joseph Feschdocumented
Owned at one point by Cardinal Joseph Fesch, uncle of Napoleon Bonaparte.23
- - 1998Barn, Connecticutunknown
How the painting reached the United States is not documented. It is thought to have been in the barn for more than a century before its rediscovery.13
- 1998 - 2025Private, Connecticutdocumented
Found dust-covered in a barn attic in Connecticut in 1998 and subsequently restored.13
- 2025 - presentPrivate collectiondocumented
Bought at Sotheby's New York, 21 May 2025. Record price for the artist.12
Prices realised
| Date | Sale | Result | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-05-21 | Sotheby's New York | USD 6 m | Record price for Frans Post. Hammer and premium-inclusive totals both widely reported; recorded here separately. |
Sources
- 1ARTnews, 'A Long-Lost Frans Post Painting Was Found in a Barn. It Just Sold for Over $7 Million at Auction.'
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/lost-frans-post-painting-found-in-barn-sold-for-over-7-million-1234743786/ - 2Smithsonian Magazine, 'This 17th-Century Dutch Painting Was Rescued From a Dusty Barn Attic in Connecticut.'
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-17th-century-dutch-painting-was-rescued-from-a-dusty-barn-attic-in-connecticut-it-just-sold-for-more-than-7-million-180986733/ - 3My Modern Met, '17th-Century Painting by Old Master Found in Barn Attic Sells at Auction for $7.3 Million'.
https://mymodernmet.com/frans-post-view-of-olinda-brazil-auction-record/
Change log
2026-08-02 — Record created for the dated 1666 canvas only. Other Olinda views by the same hand are deliberately excluded and will get their own records.