Very cheap set of 4 unusual 1520 altar piece wings, or 19th century pastiches?

Auxerre enchères, from France, sells a "German School, ca. 1520" set of four scnes from the early life of Christ, with four saints on the back. Sized 95 by 47 cm each, they are together estimated at 3,000 to 4,000 Euro.

I have been looking on and off at these for some weeks now, and haven't yet found anything comparable. My gut instinct tells me these are 19th century works, probably worth the estimate anyway but very incorrectly described.

If, however, these are really from about 1520, then the estimate is way too low. So I'm puzzled both at the works themselves and by the description and estimate. The description is done by the respectable Cabinet Turquin, who do many attributions for smaller French auction house (i.e. everything but Drouot), and usually do a good job.

For starters, the works don't seem German to me. The saints have French names, not German ones, like the above St. Grégoire.
The other three are Hieronisme, Ambroise and Augustin, i.e. four of the major church fathers (Gregory, Jerome, Ambrose and Augustinus). These are the outer sides of the wings, the sides usually visible when the polyptych is closed.

The inner wings show the presentation in the temple, the annunciation, the nativity and the adoration of the shepherds. They are painted in a highly unusual colour pattern, gold and white with a few touches of colour only. I have not been able to find any other triptych or polyptych with these colours or anything resembling it.

Something big (at least 1 by 1 meter) must have formed the central panel here (assuming that these four were the only wings, and we aren't missing a lot ot of other panels as in e.g. the Ghent Altarpiece). While I have no evidence to support this, I would expect the central piece to be not a painting, but a wooden relief, creating a retable from perhaps Antwerp (the center of this kind of artworks in this period).

The paintings are not of the highest artistic quality, it is not as if some unknown masterpiece is being discovered here; but even so finding four wings from this period and in this style would be quite an interesting and valuable thing.

The main reason is that the wood carvings of these retables often have the same colour effect as these paintings.

The end result is normally something like the above, with painted wings and carved central panels. Note how the carved panels have superficially the same effect as the painted panels for sale here: largely brown or gold, with white accents for flesh parts. See also how the retables have four wings at the bottom, again similar to what we have here.

I have looked through the catalogue of the 1993 Antwerp exhibition of such retables, but I haven't found any with gold-painted wings though.

UPDATE: sold for 16,500 Euro, four times the high estimate!

"German" trompe-l'oeil is by Dutch or Flemish artist N. P. Libberworst

Auxerre enchères, from France, sells on 1 October 2017 an "18th century German school" trompe-l'oeil, estimated at 150 to 200 Euro.

I always love this type of paintings, so I took a closer look. It is awell-painted but somewhat damaged example, with a central panel reminiscent of David Teniers (and on its own better than many "style of Teniers" works which go for 400 or 500 Euro).

The auction house kindly shows a close-up of the text in the lower right corner, which make sit possible to decipher and translate it. The text is in Dutch, not in German.

"Ich onderschreven bekent(?) ontfangen
te hebben van Sr. P. Lebberworst de somme
van dertig gulden handgeld. Dit Lever(?)
van groote partie tweedousand actien (???)
in winder(?) Bergen desen 16 janrij 176?
£30 [diagonally left bottom]
L. De Gruttere"

I, the signee, declare to have received
from Signor P. Lebberworst the sum
of 30 guilders cash money. This deliver
of large group two thousand eighteen
in windy Bergen this 16 january 176x
30 Guilders
L .De Gruttere

A grutter is a grocer, but also a small-minded person. Libberworst may mean Liverwurst.

An artist called N. P. Libberworst has produced a trompe-l'oeil sold at Sotheby's in 2001 for £1,440. The description was "Trompe l'oeil of a picture of a Dutch tavern interior, together with playing cards and a letter, pinned to a wooden wall", and the dimensions were 42 by 47. The dimensions of this one are 43 by 50, so I wonder whether this is the same work or a very similar one. 

In any case; the current estimate is very low.

UPDATE: sold for  1,950 Euro or ten times the upper estimate!

"French School" are two drawings by Ottavio Leoni

Auxerre enchères, from France, sells on 1 October 2017 two "French School, early 17th century" drawings, estimated at 1,000 to 1,200 Euro each: a portrait of a young man, and a portrait of a lady.

Both works are dated, but in Italian, not in French, which might have been an indication that they were not "Frecnh school" but Italian. The man is dated "i 24 dicembre 1618", the woman "i 35 Aprile 1619". Since, even in those days, April didn't have 35 days, I presume "i 24" and "i 35" are sequential numbers, or else I am misreading something. As the "1"s in the years are also dotted, it may well be "124" and "135".

The drawings are very good and seem to fit the date perfectly, so I have little doubt that they are original works of art by a known master of the period. But in general attributing such portrait drawings is pretty hard unless you have another bit to search on, like the identity of the sitters.

This time I was lucky though, and I found a lot of other drawings of similar style and quality which use the same dating and numbering system (and handwriting). The other drawings are all of similar dimensions as well.

Drawing from the Lille catalogue

Ottavio Leoni (1578-1630) is an Italian artist best known for his portrait drawings. An exhibition catalogue from the Museum in Lille has some more information on this artist, and explains "Most of Leoni's portrait drawings are inscribed with the month and year in which they were executed, as well as a number. These numbers are sequential, with the series beginning in 1615 and ending in 1629". It further explains that most of his pre-1620 drawings were in black chalk only, with post-1620 drawings also using red chalk.

This book on Bernini also discusses Leoni, describing his portraits as an "extraordinary series of drawings" and Leoni as "unequaled in sketch portraits"

Portraits which seal the attribution include:

*this 1620 portrait, number 154, which has the same mark (a reversed P, some watermark perhaps?) to the right of the head (which is very similar to the sitter of the work for sale), and which has at the bottom the same mark of an O with a cross or X below it

*Number 115, from July 1618 (exact same way of writing numbers and date, and of course exact same style of drawing)

*Number 157, April 1620, from the Met: this one explains that the name of the sitter is noted on the back of the drawing, so perhaps the same is true for the two for sale here?

Antiques and Fine Art Magazine make it clear that Number 137 is dated April 1619, which matches exactly with our number 135 from the same month.

In total, there were some 400 numbered drawings, which regularly appear on the art market (and what a fabulous collection target to reassemble as many of these as possible!). The prices vary, Sotheby's sold one in 2015 for £10,000, and one for $25,000 in 2008. A portrait from early 1618 was sold at Christie's Paris in 2014 for 4,750 Euro.

The very cheapest I have found for a Leoni with the number and date was $2,500, but usually these fetch around 5,000 Euro each. And if you are really lucky and can find the identification on the back, and it turns out to be someone really important, then the sky is the limit

UPDATE: not sold, perhaps not enough people recognised this? Perhaps I should have gone for them myself...

UPDATE 2: apparently there was an error at the auction site originally, as it now says that they were sold for 12,000 Euro and 14,000 Euro, which is much more logical.

"Loth and his daughters" featuring Gabrielle d'Estrées

Auxerre enchères, from France, sells on 1 October 2017 a "17th century school" Lot and his daughters, a relatively large canvas (108 by 138 cm) estimated at 1200 to 1500 Euro.

Neither the subject nor the artistic merits are particularly remarkable, but for one aspect: the nude daughter of Lot is most likely a portrait of Gabrielle d'Estrées (1573-1599), mistress and later fiancée of the French king Henri IV (or of course her very similar looking sister). The hair, the earring, and of course the bare breasts and the position of the upper torso and right arm, and the way the hand pinches the nipple, are also very reminiscent of the famous d'Estrées painting.

The work for sale is probably later and painted by a less able hand, but it is still fascinating to see how such an iconic work was revisited in later, unrelated works.

UPDATE: not sold.

An unknown work by Simon Marmion?

Caen enchères, from France, sells on 7 October 2017 a "Simon Marmion" fragment of a painting showing King Solomon(?). Measuring 27,5 by 17cm, it is estimated at 12,000 to 15,000 Euro.

Simon Marmion (1420-1489) is an Early Netherlandish painter from the Bruges school (although he is anative of the Northern French city Valenciennes, and worked mainly in the other northern French city Amiens). He is best known as one of the best miniaturists of his period, but some paintings from his hand are also known (e.g. in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Met, and the National Gallery in London). While he is as a a painter not as important or good as Van der Weyden or Memling, he still is one of the main painters of the period.

No works attributed to Marmion have been sold in the last few decades, it seems, so to have a real Marmion for sale would be a major, major find. The work for sale is only a small fragment, and in rather poor condition. Even so, it seems to me to be a work by a follower of Marmion, a work in his style but not precise enough to be really by him.

Concerning the topic of the painting, I don't immediately see a reason why Solomon would be depicted next to a fountain. More likely is that this is king David looking at Bathsheba, bathing or washing at the fountain. Even though Dvaid is usually shown from a window, balcony, or roof of his palace, it is not unique to have him closer to the action.

Comparing it with similar details from paintings and miniatures shows that Marmion, at this small scale, was a better artist, adding even the smallest detail with incredible care.

Compare e.g. this Mass of St. Gregory, from the Art Gallery of Ontario, with the work for sale. This work is 45cm by 29cm, so not really big either. Still, minute details like the head of Saint Gregory are given with infinite care. It is comparable in scale to the figure of King Solomon in the work for sale, but the difference in quality is remarkable.

Works from his circle have been sold over the last 25 years for prices ranging from 6000 Euro to more than 150,000 Euro, so the estimate for this one may still be spot on. If it were a real Marmion, even in this condition, it should be worth considerably more as they are incredibly rare. But in my view it should be described as a Follower of Marmion instead.

UPDATE: sold for 13,200 Euro, and may be bought by the Museum of Picardy in Amiens. If it is real, it will probably be one of the oldest works in their collection, and for a reasonable amount of money.

"Knght of the Golden Fleece" is unusual portrait of Charles I

Horta, from Belgium, sells on 9 October 2017 a "Flemish School, 17th century" "Portrait of a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece", estimated at 2500 to 3500 Euro.

It is a portrait of King Charles I of England, probably based on a portrait by Anthony Van Dyck.

The inscription reads "Away I pass / from what I was", probably a reference to his death, but a line I can't find any reference or source for. Mourning portraits for Charles I are not unusual, but are often in miniature or otherwise easily hidden, as royalist sentiment wasn't really a healthy sentiment at the time. The larger scale of this one may indicate a later origin, or that it was kept abroad (e.g. by some family which had fled England for the Continent). Paintings of Charles I with his crown seem to be rare, and only add to the post-mortem royalist flair of course.

Artistically, the painting isn't too bad but would struggle nevertheless to reach the bottom estimate. But with the correct subject and the potential history behind it, this one might fetch a lot more if it is noticed by the right collectors.

UPDATE: the crown worn by Charles I here is the St. Edward crown, not the earlier crown which was dismantled after the execution of Charles I. Since this new crown was created in 1661, the painting is not older than that, or the crown has been added to the painting at a later date of course.

UPDATE 2: not sold probably, again for sale at Horta on 22 January 2018 with a better description (portrait of Charles I) and an unchanged estimate of 2500 to 3500 Euro.

UPDATE 3: sold at Sotheby's (!) in September 2018 (in an online only auction) for  £3,500, not bad at all.

"Louis Finch" is a work by Willy Finch

Horta, from Belgium, sells on 10 October 2017 a "Louis Finch" seascape of the North Seea, estimated at 300 to 400 Euro.

No Louis Finch is known, but the signature clearly reads Willy Finch. Finch (1854-1930), one of the most important Belgian neo-impressionists. One would be very hard-pressed to find an original Finch for less than 1000 Euro, and his best works (e.g. some of his early pointillist works (one of his works was sold at Christie's Amsterdam in 1997 for more than 200,000 Euro).

This one is, depending on how you look at it, either rather grey and boring, or very spherical and daring in its near monochrome approach.

Top to bottom: signature on this work, similar signature from Blouin Artsales info, 
and more typical form of his signature from an 1888 pointillist work.


He usually signed his paintings A W Finch, not Willy Finch, but the signature matches some works by him, including some very early ones from the 1880s also painted in Ostend, where he was often working together with the great Belgian post-Impressionist James Ensor in his best years.

Ensor painted at least four portraits of Finch at work, a witness of how close they were at the time and how important Finch was in the local art scene of that period.

I'm not totally convinced that this is a real Finch, the signature is not really convincing and the work is generic enough to be fakeable: however, if it is by Finch, then it probably is an early work and a real avant-garde work, and it should be worth ten times the estimate.

15K€ "In the style of Rubens (Workshop?)" is simply a copy after Rubens

Hampel, from Germany, sells on 28 September 2017 a Magdalene, estimated at 15,000 to 25,000 Euro.

It is described as "Farbkomposition in der bewussten Farbtrias von Rot, Blau und Seidenweiß, dazwischen kontrastierend das Braun-Gold des Haares über der linken Schulter. Sowohl Bildaufbau, als auch die Charakteristik der Gesichtswiedergabe weisen auf eine enge Beziehung zu Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) hin." and attributed to "Flämischer Maler in der Rubensnachfolge (Werkstatt?)"

Google translated this gives  "Color composition in the deliberate color triangles of red, blue and silk white, contrasting the brown-gold of the hair above the left shoulder. Both the composition of the picture and the characteristics of the facial reproduction point to a close relationship with Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)"

Well, duh. It is a partial copy after a well-known Rubens from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, which adequately explains why the composition, colouring, ... so clearly point to Rubens. What remains is a comparison of the quality of painting with the original and with other works of Rubens or his workshop.

 

And while this is a well-painted copy, it is not good enough to live up to the expectations (or estimate) raised by Hampel. All delicacy of the original is lost, the nuances are replaced with rather indiscriminate touches, the colouring is bland. This may be a 5,000 Euro copy, but never a 15,000 to 25,000 Euro one.

"Style of Roelandt Savery" is after Peeter Boel (inspired by Jan Fyt)

Carlo Bonte, from Belgium, sells on 27 September 2017 an "Unsigned, 17th century, style of Roeland Savery" bird fight ("Allegory of fleeting time", they call it), estimated at 3,000 to 5,000 Euro.

Works attributed to Joannes Fyt and  Jan van Kessel I use identical elements, so perhaps the artist must be searched in either camp.

Joannes or Jan Fyt clearly is a better painter than the artist at work here. The RKD lists this large painting from the Staatsfalerie in Oberschlossheim, Munich. The heron and falcon are nearly identical (with the heron reversed obviously), but not completely the same.

Jan van Kessel I has more variation in the quality of his works (and also works by his family Jan van Kessel II and Ferdinand van Kessel), making him a more obvious candidate for this painting, if one doesn't like to have an anonymous work from the "circle of". This one again comes from the RKD and is a much smaller work. It was sold at Christie's in 1998. Van Kessel often copied elements from others, including Fyt, and in fact this work is listed by the RKD as being partially based on a work by Fyt as well; they don't mention that the top half, with the heron is also based on Fyt though!

The actual exact same image as in the painting here can be found in an engraving by Peeter Boel from ca. 1657, which I found at the Rijksmuseum (the RKD is brilliant for paintings and good for drawings: the Rijksmuseum is the best public source for Flemish and Dutch engravings though, and provides free high-quality images). Here the wings and feet of the heron and the tail of the falcon are identical to the painting.

The estimate of the work for sale seems about right, it is not an original by a known master but it is well-painted and of considerable size, and hunting scenes or bird scenes are still fairly popular.

UPDATE: not sold, again for sale at Carlo Bonte on 13 December 2017 with a lowered estimate of 2,000 to 3,000 Euro.

UPDATE 2: not sold, now at Rops on 28 January 2018 with same description but higher estimate of 4,000 to 6,000 Euro! Seems rather optimistic...

UPDATE 3: Sold for 4,300 Euro, bizarre... Buyer could have had it for half the price only one month ago!

16th c. "Adoration of the Shepherds": Italian or Flemish?

Carlo Bonte, from Belgium, sells on 27 September 2017 a "16th century" Adoration of the Shepherds, estimated at 3,000 to 5,000 Euro.


I couldn't find an exact match for the composition so far, even though it reminds me of works by Jacopo Bassano. But in general the work looks like a Flemish interpretation of Italian examples.

The shepherd on the far left, for example, can also be found on Italian works, e.g. here from an "Italy, mid 16th century" anonymous work sold at La Suite Subastas.

On the Flemish side, it reminds me more in general of the work of e.g. Marten de Vos, like in the above engraving.

But like I said, I couldn't find a more closely related painting or engraving, so while it seems likely that this painting isn't an original composition but a copy of one or more older works (which would also explain the difference in quality between some parts of the work), I can not exactly pinpoint a time or place of origin.

The estimate seems about right though, as it is a pleasing work with enough quality to entice bidders.

UPDATE 19/09/2017: strangely enough, I found the figure of the "Italian" painting again, but now on an engraving after Maerten de Vos (by Sadeler), who I had already linked to the composition above! The Rijksmuseum led me to this engraving from ca. 1582. So while this doesn't really help us for the current painting, at least we can change the "Italian" painting from La Suite Subastas to "After Marten de Vos"...

UPDATE 20/09/2017: on Twitter,  AuctionRadar kindly showed another engraving after Maerten de Vos which contained other figures identical or very close to ones in this painting. The bowing shepherd holding his hat, some of the angels, and the figure of Joseph clearly are derived from this engraving (or from the painting at the origin of it). While I still haven't found all elements from the painting, it seems obvious that it should be considered the work of a Follower of Maerten de Vos.