Wednesday, 2 September 2015

A real Ghysbrecht Leytens or not?

Horta, from Brussels, sells on 14 September 2015 a "Flemish School, 17th century" winter landscape with an "old attribution to Ghijsbrecht Leytens", and a provenance from galerie Giroux in 1958. Sized 72 by 103 cm, it is estimated at 15,000 to 25,000 Euro.

Which is a bit of a wishy-washy estimate. For a real Leytens, it is a bargain. For an old copy after Leytens, it is too much...

The painting is nearly identical to a genuine Leytens from the Mauritshuis (The Hague, Netherlands), sized 76 by 112cm, and doesn't look to be significantly different or worse in painting style (judging from the pictures), though probably a lot dirtier. The Mauritshuis one is perhaps slightly more appealing, as it has a bit more action spread over the canvas, but that's more to do with personal taste. Genuine Leytens winter landscapes have easily fetched 100,000 Euro and more over the last few decades, so this might well soar way above estimate, if other people believe as well that this might well be a genuine Leytens. 

UPDATE: not sold, apparently people didn't believe it to be a real Leytens.

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