LONDON – A strong supply of Dutch paintings will determine the success of this week’s Old Masters evening sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s here today and tomorrow, respectively. Unlike recent evening sales of Russian and Contemporary art, these auctions are unlikely to cause fireworks. Whereas the latter markets are hot and, many experts say, still undervalued, the Old Masters market is relatively stable and calm, with buyers looking for long-term investments and possessing a genuine, often intellectual interest in the works.

As the head of Old Master pictures at Christie’s, Paul Raison, said: “This is less of a spectator’s market. People aren’t in it so much to make a turnaround; rather, they buy the pictures because they love them and also because these are safer long-term investments.”

Russian collectors — the undisputed new titans of the art world — and other wealthy former Soviet buyers will be a big presence at the sales. According to experts from both houses, they are fueled by a fervor for collecting, and a nostalgic appreciation for works that might well have hung in the Hermitage.

Two major collections are at the core of the Sotheby’s sale. The first comes from the estate of Swedish nobleman Gustaf Adolf Sparre (1746-94), most of which has not been seen on the open market since the late 18th century. Sparre took a liking for Low Countries painting while on the Grand Tour as a young man, collecting 100 works between 1768 and 1771. Although French and Italian art were particularly trendy in Sweden among the aristocracy — many of whom passed as much of their Grand Tour as possible in glamorous Paris — Sparre seems to have been viscerally drawn to Low Country painting.

There is a 1625 still life by David Teniers the Younger (estimated at between $240,000 and $320,000), thought to be the only one of its type in his oeuvre — an intensely focused yet naturalistic scene of a table with a glass of wine, bread, and an overturned jug. Also notable in Sparre’s collection is a rediscovered grisaille oil sketch by Anthony Van Dyck (between $600,000 and $800,000), depicting Christ on the cross. Scholars have found that it corresponds closely with a 1629 altarpiece painted as a gift to the Dominican Convent of Saint Catherine in Antwerp.

One of the most luminous and exciting pieces is the cover lot, a still life by Jan Jansz. Den Uyl the Elder, which went unrecognized until 1903. It comes from the collection of the still-living Greek financier, Dimitri Mavrommatis. The Sotheby’s Old Masters expert, George Gordon, calls this one of the best 17th-century Dutch still life paintings and a “tour de force.” It is particularly glorious as it marks the beginning of the still life style, a departure from the traditional paintings of objects and people assembled symmetrically to impress. With its crumpled tablecloth, hanging orange peels and overturned candelabra, this is an unusually naturalistic and informal piece. “What people gravitate towards in this picture is the way it slices away at the centuries,” Mr Gordon said. Given that the last great Den Uyl was sold in the late 1980s, this one is expected to cause a stir, and is estimated at between $2,020,000 and $3,030,000.

High profile Italian lots include a pair of Canalettos (Giovanni Antonio Canal), showing the Grand Canal and the Church of Giovanni e Paolo in Venice, painted in England between 1746 and 1755. Canaletto views have been attracting buyers from all over the world (not just Italians) in the past few years, as archetypal examples of the Italian View style. They are indeed beautiful, pale renderings of both scenes, and the pair is estimated to sell between $3,030,000 and $4,040,000. Another top lot comes from the Dutchman Vanvitelli (Gaspar Van Wittel), the so-called father of View painting. His “View of the River Tiber” at both the Porto Della Legna and Porto di Ripa Grande in Rome are estimated at between $2,020,000 and $3,030,000.

At Christie’s, the collection of Anton Philips, founder of Philips Electronics, provides the star lots. Leading the sale is Reubens’s “Two Studies of a Young Man” (painted between 1615 and 1617), of a black man’s head looking down and also straight ahead, estimated to reach between $8,200,000 and $12,000,000. The painting, which relates to a large 1620 altarpiece, is absorbing and perceptive, and highly unusual. Although Reubens was a prolific sketch-maker, he is not known to have created any other large-scale studies like this.

Likely to cause a stir is a Rembrandt-esque picture by Jan Lievens, “An Old Man Holding a Skull,” estimated at between $1,700,000 and $2,500,000. This meticulous and vivid picture came from the great Port Eliot House in Cornwall, where it had been since the 17th century, in a filthy state. Christie’s has not cleaned it, however, as it has “big wall power” and can speak for itself through its cover of dirt.

Elsewhere at Christie’s is a richly-hued picture of “a woman fleeing on a wooded path,” by Dosso Dossi, from the 1520s, estimated at between $310,000 and $510,000. Dossi was one of the great 16thcentury artists, and although this picture is new to the market, Mr. Raison believes “people will rather go for it.” The leading Italian work of the sale, though, is the resplendent cover lot by Orazio Gentileschi of Madonna and Child (estimated to sell between $3,100,000 and $5,100,000).

Also of note is a typical Dutch Italianate landscape painting by Aelbert Cuyp, depicting cows grazing on a riverbank in Dordecht under a luminous sky, estimated at between $2,100,000 and $3,100,000. A portrait by Thomas de Keyser of a young woman is another highlight, expected to go between $820,000 and $1,200,000. The picture is animated, giving the impression of someone who is present, thus a leap forward in style from the memorializing-type portrait common at the time.