The strange case of Jeanne Samson Fichel

Jakobowicz, from Melun, France, sells on 6 February 2016 a "French School, 19th century, signed Fichel" painting of The Smell of Flowers, estimated at 80 to 100 Euro.

It isn't a particularly brilliant painting, although it has a very pleasing composition. But researching it a bit anyway lead to a strange story.

The painting is actually signed "J Fichel", which restricted the possibilities and excluded someone like Benjamin Eugène Fichel. Sales catalogues listed, without an image, one other painting by a "J Fichel", sold in Germany in 1985 for $1,300.

But another site of old auctions gave me the possible solution. Hargesheimer sold in 2011 a painting signed "J. Fichel" which was by Jeanne Samson Fichel, a late 19th century French woman painter. This fitted exactly with the painting here!

This lead me to some other works, and then the problems started. Apparently there are two types of Jeanne Samson Fichel paintings: some rather crude, amateurish, like the one for sale and some other examples I found; and some much more refined, elaborate, finished. Considering how little known Jeanne Fichel is, and the limited value involved, it seems unlikely that someone is faking these. Perhaps she rarely had the time to really finish a painting, or lacked the patience, or perhaps she made more money making fast mediocre paintings than slow good ones? Whatever the reason, I do believe that the two types of paintings are made by one and the same painter.

An important piece of the puzzle was the above black-and-white image of the painting for sale, or at least of a painting with the very same composition but apparently better executed (e.g. the head of the girl). I found it on Wikimedia Commons, and the image also learned me that the original is from 1878 and was called "Le Bouquet", and that she was born Jeanne Samson and married to a Fichel (Benjamin Eugène?).

And indeed, she was the wife of Eugène Benjamin Fichel (1826-1895), considering that the above, a different version of the J. Fichel from Hargesheimer that put me on the right track, was painted by Eugène... This is confirmed by the Jewish Encyclopedia, which also indicates that Jeanne exhibited at the Salon from 1878 on, the year from the black-and-white painting. The wedding was apparently on 8 October 1877. Jeanne Samson was presumably from Lyon, and lived from 1849 until 1906, so she was considerably younger than her husband. He was also her teacher, according to the Deutschen Nationalbibliothek. Another source indicates that her first appearance on the Salon was already in 1869, when she was only 20, and that Fichel was already her teacher by then.

Other good paintings by Jeanne Samson Fichel include the above from Christie's (as Jeanne Samson, 1893), sold for £3,000 in 2013 (multiple copies seem to exist); and one incorrectly labeled as "Jeanne Samson Fichtel", sold at Sotheby's in 1997 for $2,300.

The above work sold at Freeman's in 2009 for $6,500.

Poorer works, closer to the one for sale, include the above examples (some a lot worse than the one for sale), with the second one showing a very similar signature. The thrid one, for which I only have this small image from Drouot, is quite comparable in style and signature.

It is clear that the good works by Jeanne Salmon fetch a few thousand Euros, while the poor ones fetch a few hundred instead. Still, the work for sale seems undervalued, considering its charm, the fact that it is by a known painter, and the link to the good early painting. Whether it is a study (it's small, 33 by 24cm, so this seems certainly possible), or a fast copy made for some easy money, or something else, is  probably impossible to determine by now. But it is more than good enough to be worth a few hundred Euros.

"Unknown engraver" is an (unknown) Sadeler engraving after Hans von Aachen

Babuino, from Italy, sells on 4 February an "Unknown engraver, 17th century" engraving of the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, estimated at 80 to 120 Euro.

It looks to be an engraving by Jan Sadeler (One or Two?). The bottom right has the inscription Jns. Sad. excud. I can't find another example of this engraving, which is unusual (though engravings are not that easy to look for).

Strange enough, I can find at least three copies of another engraving (in reverse) of the same painting. The original is by Hans von Aachen, and the engravings by Jansz. Muller from ca. 1600 can be found in the Met, in the Bijlokemuseum in Ghent, and in the Rijksmuseum (Rijksmuseum example pictured). This version and the one for sale have the same text at the bottom, even though the images are reversed. No idea if the painting also bears that text, not on the versions I could find. Even more bizarre, there are versions of the painting oriented both sides as well!

There are some other engravings of the martyrdom of Sebastian by members of the Sadeler family, but this image is not among the one I could find online. The RKD doesn't list it either.

So it seems to be a rare engraving, by one of the best and most well-known engravers or his period. Should be worth more than the estimate, in that case!

Important rare and undervalued work by Henri Huklenbrok at Horta Brussels

Horta, from Brussels, sells on 22 February 2016 a "Signed Huklenbrok" view of a quarry in Bouille, France, a quite large work of 116 by 89cm estimated at 400 to 600 Euro.

Huklenbrok is Henri Huklenbrok (1871-1942), a now forgotten but in his day very important Belgian (sometimes said to be German and/or French) post-impressionist, pupil of Gustave Moreau and friends with Henri Evenepoel and Henri Matisse. He was active mainly between 1895 and 1905, exhibiting at the Salon de Paris and in a two-person exhibition with Evenepoel in Brussels at the Cercle Artistique et Littéraire in 1899, which was about the main location for Belgian avant-garde at the time. He also accompanied Matisse to Port-Croix in the late 1800s. You can read a bit about him (just enough to make you curious) in this NYTimes article.

Evenepoel died in 1899 and Huklenbrok dropped of the radar a few years later, supposedly being mentally deranged. He either didn't paint any more from them on, or his family destroyed most works: accounts seem to differ on this point, but the end result is that his work is fairly rare, and the artist mostly forgotten, while Evenepoel is now one of the most celebrated Belgian artists of right before 1900.

Huklenbrok is a very unusual name, and it turns out that his real name was Huichlenbroich, which is equally unusual and a lot harder to spell, or more likely Huklenbroich, which is slightly more common, especially in Germany; or most commonly Hucklenbroich.

The last Huklenbrok work to be offered by a major auction house was in 1992 (at Sotheny's Amsterdam), so comparing prices is hard. But the quality of the work, and his importance at the time, means that this should be worth at least 5,000 Euro instead of the extremely low 400 Euro the auction house suggests.

UPDATE: nice to see what an impact my blog has... Sold for only 240 Euro!

Delightful trompe-l'oeil in Dutch tradition at Gregory's (but not described as such!)

Gregory's, despite the name from Italy, sells on 5 February 2016 a "Late 17th or early 18th century" still life with parrot and flowers, estimated at 700 to 1,000 Euro.

What they seem to have missed and what makes it in my view the most desirable is the trompe-l'oeil aspect of the work.

This type of trompe-l'oeil, with the "oh no, the canvas is loose from the frame!" effect, was most popular in the Netherlands in the late 17th century, with painters like Samuel van Hoogstraten (top image, attributed to him) and especially Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts (bottom two images).

The work for sale is not good enough to be by either of those, but it is amusing, well-painted, and original enough to be interesting to many collectors and art lovers. It should be worth double the estimate or more. I wonder if a different kind of frame (or no frame at all) wouldn't enforce the effect. I don't know enough about frames to judge whether the current one could be the original, my guess would be "no".

"Italian School" looks like a follower or copy of Valentin de Boulogne or one of his pupils?

Philocale, from Paris, sells on 30 January 2016 an "Italian School, middle of the 17th century" Feast of Bacchus, a large panel (142 by 217) estimated at 4,000 to 7,000 Euro.

While I couldn't find a direct example for this work, it looks a lot more like the work of a follower of Valentin de Boulogne than it resembles an Italian work (or, from the other side of such compositions, the works of Gerrit van  Honthorst and the like).

It's a good composition with some very well painted aspects (the two women on the left), but also some rather dreadful bits (like the woman on the right, with the claw(?) on her shoulder), so the chance that it is a real De Boulogne seems slim (or else it has suffered very badly over the centuries).

 

The musician to the right is comparable to the one on the above De Boulogne examples, although he looks slightly more "Dutch" here to my eyes.

The above work from the Louvre also shows a comparable composition and mood to the example for sale, and matches in details like the drinking vessel. Obviously the one from the Louvre is a much better painting though. Other things like the clothing also point to a comparable date and period of origin.

Oh, and "pour la petite histoire", a previous owner seems to have been a bistro (either called "Romain", or in Rome), as seen here.

And for the record; everywhere above that I have used "De Boulogne", one can just as well say "Nicolas Fournier" or perhaps some other pupil of De Boulogne. While probably the styles of master and pupil are distinguishable in an original, it is for me impossible in such a copy or "inspired by" work like this one. The position of the lute player in the above Tuornier is probably closer to the one for sale than any of the Boulognes I have seen and shown, and the second example shows similar drinking vessels as the one I used to make the comparison to De Boulogne as well. Tournier seems to prefer to have the table pointing towards the watcher with one corner, while De Boulogne prefers to place it parallel, just like in the work for sale... Which bit is meaningful, which is just coincidence? The general origin of (the original of) our work seems clear though.

Value of the work for sale? It is huge, but damaged and badly painted in places. Overall it is interesting, may have art historical value if it would e.g. be a copy after a lost or unknown De Boulogne painting, but probably isn't a sleeper in its own right. 5,000 Euro, or mid-estimate, should be about right.

"French School, 18th century" Diana is a reverse copy after Antoine Coypel

Philocale, from France, sells on 30 January 2016 a "French School, 18th century" Diana at her bath, estimated at 1,700 to 2,500 Euro.

It is a typical rosy-coloured pleasing but not really challenging picture, but the composition seems to be better than the pictorial qualities (which are good but not really brilliant).

Turns out that it is a reverse and reduced copy of an Antoine Coypel work from the Epinal Art Museum, with some changes to the background mainly.

I guess the work isn't worth more than the estimate, considering the above.

"Follower of Rembrandt" portrait: is it Saskia? And can we identify the painter?

Doyle, from New York, sells on 27 January 2016 a "Follower of Rembrandt" portrait of a woman, estimated at $3,000 to $5,000.

It is a very nice portrait, much better than the usual Rembrandt-style paintings one sees, and for a very reasonable price for this quality. It's not a hidden Rembrandt probably, the painting is a bit too flat when seen in detail, not painted lively enough; but it is a very competent, striking image nevertheless.

First question it raises; is it Saskia, Rembrandts wife and muse? The above portrait of Saskia by Carel Fabritius could well be the same woman, but it's hard to be sure.  

Searching among the pupils of Rembrandt to find possible matches, I noticed different possible matches, like Aert de Gelder, Leveck or Samuel van Hoogstraten. Perhaps the most likely candidate is Isaac de Jouderville. He uses less of the flou artistique so beloved by many pupils of Rembrandt, as can be seen in the portrait pictured above.

Other pupils also made similar works, but their style is less close to the one for sale. For instance the above portrait is by Willem Drost, who seems to have a much looser touch of the pencil. Other works by Drost come closer to the one for sale though, these artists didn't stick to one fixed style sadly (for us, now, I mean).

I don't think, based solely on the picture on the website, that it can be attributed to Jouderville or any other painter  (perhaps by a real specialist in these portraits, certainly not by me). But it is a very good example of this style and should be worth a lot more.

UPDATE: sold for $11,250, more than three times the estimate: nice to see that the bidders for once agree with me ;-)

Flemish "religious scene" is a Death of Saint Lawrence after Titian

Bellmans, from the UK, sells on 19 January 2016 a "Flemish School, 18th century" "religious scene", estimated at £200 to £300.

It clearly is a "Death of Saint Lawrence", with the typical barbecue used for this martyrdom, but it took some searching to find the origin (or at least one origin) of this painting.

A first clue was a work sold at Christie's Amsterdam in 2005 as a "Manner of Rubens", which contained in reverse the same angels, man with the flag, and similar central figures.

No Rubens' work that formed the basis for this painting turned up though, but further research showed it to be a faithful though largely reversed copy of a work by Titian (the angels on the top are strangely not reversed in the Christie's work) from the Escorial.

The reverse inscription on the work for sale (part of the "last words" of Lawrence) is a clear indication that this work is based on an engraving of the original. Where the added parts come from is not immediately clear. It is a cheap and strange work, but doesn't have much artistic quality.

UPDATE: sold for £550 or more than double the estimate.

Two of the five "Senses", after Teniers

Binoche et Giquello sell, through Drouot, on 15 January 2016 two paintings from the "Atelier of David Teniers" estimated at 400 to 600 Euro.

While the first one is correctly described as an "allegory of smell", the second is apparently not recognised as the accompanying "allegory of touch". It seems a bit optimistic to put this in the Teniers atelier, even though that had a rather large production of varying quality: but as two old works after Teniers, the estimate seems on the conservative side.

The "Touch" is a copy after the above Teniers (from the Guildhall Art Gallery in London), but without the decor and with the glee on the face of the old woman replaced by a more concerned expression (probably due to the lack of skill of the copier). The differences in colour and details may indicate a few stations between the original and the copy, not some work straight from the workshop.

I couldn't find a version of the "smell" that was equally close to the one for sale, but paintings like the above show the similarity with the works of Teniers anyway. It is quite possible that an original series of the five senses with the same woman in them existed, and that the "smell" for sale here is a reminder of how the original may have looked. 

One can wonder if other Teniers' paintings, like the above two from the National Gallery featuring a very similar older woman, aren't also part of series of the senses (in this case, taste and hearing?). The above two are not connected in the National Gallery website (even though they came from the same collection at the same time and have similar dimensions), and are given dates ten years apart, but it is obvious that they (or their originals at least, if they are workshop copies) belong together from the many identical elements in them; this makes it more likely that they were part of a series of course, and it would be nice to find the other three senses from the series.

Sleepers and what happens next: the Sotheby Babel

Sotheby's has in its Old Master sale a "Flemish School, 17th Century" Tower of Babel, estimated at $200,000 to $300,000.

It's a very nice example, not easily placed in the works of a known artist or even closely related to most of the other similar Flemish Babel towers.

It was last sold in October 2014 at Nagel, German auction house. They had estimated it at only 15,000 Euro, but fierce bidding saw it soar to 210,000 Euro. A real sleeper, but slightly more than a year later, it only gets the same estimate as what it sold for two years ago, and without the benefit of being "fresh to the market" (Sotheby's omits the provenance and auction history with a reason, of course). It will be interesting to see if it will sell and if it will make another profit.

UPDATE: sold for $418,000, so about double the previous price and incomparable to the original 15,000 Euro estimate of October 2014!

Supper at Emmaus reuses elements from Rubens, but is it really 17th century?

Vanderkindere, Belgium, sells on 19 January 2016 an "Antwerp School, second quarter of the 17th century" Supper at Emmaus, a large panel painting (106 by 151) estimated at 5,000 to 7,000 Euro.

The central figure of Jesus and the old woman behind him are copied from a well-known Rubens painting of the same subject (image from the RKD). Other elements, like the man pouring a drink on the left, also seem very familiar, with elements reminiscent of Bloemaert or Wolffort. I wonder if this isn't a much later pastiche (the woman on the far left seems more like a 19th century painting to me) instead of an original Antwerp painting close to Rubens' period.

If original, it is easily worth the estimate, but I don't really trust this one.

UPDATE: sold for 5,000 Euro, the bottom estimate.

"In style of Vermeer" looks like a weak Quiringh van Brekelenkam

Leonhardt, German auction house, sells on 16 January 2016 a "17th century, in style of Vermeer" panel painting of a lacemaking woman in an interior, estimated at 2,000 to 2,500 Euro.

It looks close to some works by Quiringh van Brekelenkam, a lesser-known Dutch master of the interior, whose best works fetch 100,000 Euro and more but who also painted quite a lot of mediocre works in the same style (or many works are incorrectly attributed to him?) This work definitely belongs to the mediocre category, not to his masterpieces, but it's nice to put a name to a work (no matter if it is "by" or "after").

The closest resemblance can be found in the above interior, sold at Sotheby's New York in 2011 for $158,500. From the window to the left, with the one opened panel, through the lace maker, the white "tapestry"(?) behind her, right through to the fireplace on the right, the similarities are plain to see. The interior in the one for sale is a poorer house, although it has quite a few books.

The above from the Rijksmuseum also contains a few very similar elements, like the chair, the tapestry, the bird cage, the windows, and of course the same shape of the lacemaking tool.

Looking at yet more Van Brekelenkam paintings with similar interiors, I can see that the white tapestry is supposed to be a map, but I can't see whether it is recognisable in the work for sale (it would make it clearly more valuable, as it would appeal to map collectors as well).

The more mediocre Van Brekelenkam can be seen in works like the above "woman scaling fish", or the many works at auction that are sold for a few thousand euros or simply bought in.

The work for sale is cheap, but even as a Van Brekelenkam it won't be worth much more. But I always like to attribute works!

UPDATE: sold for 1,300 Euro, not a lot for this.