Second bid: result

At Dreweatts, auction of 28 April 2015, I bid on lot 1 (so not really buried in the auction), two works; first a "presentation of the virgin" (main image of the lot) by an unknown artist, which looks familiar to me but which I can't place and can't find online, so that one is just a bonus.

The second, by a different hand (but also Flemish) is an Assumption of the Virgin, oil on paper laid on panel, 36 by 27 cm. It is damaged, and badly painted in some aspects, but the composition, use of colour, and execution of other persons and details show a skilled hand.

My guess is that it is an elaborate study for the composition of what is arguably the masterpiece of Theodoor van Loon, a very good but somewhat forgotten contemporary of Rubens and the like, who e.g. made the main paintings for the Basilica of Scherpenheuvel. The Assumption by Van Loon is now in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels. It is a huge work, 356 by 237 cm, a triumphant altar piece originally intended for the Beguinage Church in Brussels.

The final work is significantly different from the work for sale here, showing that it is not a copy after the work but a preparatory oil sketch, one of the last before the final composition was decided. It is a unique view in the work of this artist, halfway between simple drawings and a finished major work.

A later, probably final preparatory version of the work, measuring 103 by 74 cm, is now kept in the main church of Molenbeek (in Brussels). This one has no obvious differences compared to the finished work.

The attention for Van Loon has increased over the last 5 years, and I know of at least two art historians in Belgium studying his art and preparing a book on him. I guess they will have interest in and an opinion on this work! What's it worth? Anybody's guess, I suppose, but more than the estimate of £400 to 600 given for the two works in the original sale!

So, the auction ended at £2,200, and I didn't win. It looks as if at least two other people went for this one as well, whether they did so for the same reason or because they recognised the other picture (or both) is not clear obviously. Let's hope they go to a good home (a museum in Belgium would be nice)...