Thursday 17 March 2016

"17th c. Flemish School" is by Adriaen van Utrecht

Horta, from Brussels, sells on 21 March 2016 a "Flemish School, 17th century" still life with parrot and monkey, a large (122cm by 173cm) canvas estimated at 20,000 to 30,000 Euro.

It clearly is by or very closely after Adriaen van Utrecht (1599-1653), since some elements are identical to things found in official Van Utrecht paintings.

Galleria Bosoni, Italian art gallery, has a very similar work for sale as the one at auction here, with similar dimensions as well (116 by 164 cm). That one is signed and in much better condition, the one for sale has suffered damage and probably too heavy restauration. Perhaps it is a copy, but to me it looks to be at least a Studio of Van Utrecht work, if it isn't by him (but damaged).

If it can be restored to make it look more like the Bosoni work (without turning it into a fake, just cleaning dirty layers and so on), then it should be worth more than the already considerable estimate, probably more like 50,000 Euro. But for that kind of money, further scrutiny, preferably on-hands, is of course preferable.

UPDATE: sold for 55,000 Euro!  


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