Antwerp School Lamentation

De Zwaan, from the Netherlands, sells on 1 November 2017 as lot 4508 an "Antwerp School, 16th century" Lamentation, an oil on panel of 57 by 44 cm estimated at 2,000 to 4,000 Euro.

While I haven't been able yet to find a direct example or likely artist for it, it seems to be based on the works of Joos van Cleve Antwerp, 1480-1540).

His Lamentation altarpiece from the Louvre (central panel shown) has the same clothing, a similar Christ, similarly poised lamenting women...

Other similar works (at least in some aspects) are this engraving by the Monogrammist BM from the late 15th century (from the Rijksmuseum), the cross, including its texture, and the position of some of the Mary's.

The figure on the right side seems to be directly inspired by Durers Lamentation from the late 15th century as well.


Considering the quality of the work for sale and its age, it seems very cheap, and it wouldn't surprise me if it fetched 10,000 Euro instead.


UPDATE: sold for 4800 Euro, above the highest estimate but still cheap I think.

UPDATE 2: sold at Dorotheum in April 2018 for 40,000 Euro, more than I expected (I was kindly alerted to this sale by Auctionradar, a very interesting Twitter account and blogger).

Reversed libraries in this work (perhaps by Marten van Valckenborch)

De Zwaan, from the Netherlands, sells on 1 November 2017 as lot 4509 a "Northern European School, ca. 1600" portrait of a seated man, estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 Euro.

It is a reasonably well painted  work, but far from a masterpiece or a great artist. It has a partly erased inscription, which I sadly can't decipher completely:
"... Reinius Hisp.
Et. S. Anno LXII"

The top line seems to be his name, Reinius (? A Latinised version of Rein or Reinier perhaps, if I read it correctly) an "Hisp." an abbreviation of Hispanicus or some other word indication a link with Spain. The second line simply says that he is 62 years old. I have so far not found any person who could be matched with this name.

What caught my attention was the library behind the man. Libraries become reasonably common in paintings after 1600, before they are very rare; but I never noticed that in many examples, the books are shown with the spine hidden and the "wrong" side to the front. This seems illogical, as the author name and title can not be seen like this: but in reality many books didn't have these things on the spine yet at the time, while the pages were sometimes gilded or otherwise coloured, and the books were closed with gilded clasps. Showing this side gives a much richer effect than the rather drab spines one so often encounters in this period.

Similar cupboards can be seen in e.g. a portrait by Claes Moeyaert from 1647, or one by Johannes Vinck from 1614, or a third by Samuel Hofmann from 1616. The standard position of books as we usually know it is shown on many other paintings of the period, but this one is not unique, just peculiar.

And researching this painting and topic in the RKD, where all the above images are from, I suddenly came upon a work by Marten van Valckenborch from 1589: this very painting!
The work was in a private collection, but previously sold at Sotheby's London in 1978, and Sotheby's Amsterdam in 1988.
It has not only an attribution, but a better description of the inscription:
'1589. M / V V' (V V beneath the M).
Below, in lighter paint: '...) PLINIVS HISP. / AET.S. ANNO LXII'.

The sitter was said to possibly be Carolus Clusius, who would match the age / date combination, but no idea how the inscribed name comes into play. Looking at other portraits of Clusius seems to indicate that this is not a portrait of him, sadly. The above portrait is from 1585, or only four years before, and shows cleearly a different man.

The attribution to Marten van Valckenborch may well be correct though, even if the name of the supposed sitter should be rejected. He is mainly known from Tower of Babels and works dominated by landscapes, but his few portraits show the same considerable skill and lack of brilliance.

The most interesting comparison can be made with a work by Valckenborch together with Georg Flegel, from 1595-1600, which was for sale at Christie's in 2015 for a staggering $500,000 (but unsold? I can no longer find it at the Christie's site...). The figures were the work of Valckenborch, while Flegel painted the flowers and fruits.

The resemblance in style is quite clear, so an attribution of the work for sale to Marten van Valckenborch seems reasonable.

Remarkable is the similarity between the flowers in the work for sale, and the flowers by Flegel in the Christie's work, especially the large central flower.I am no botanist so I have no idea at all what flower it could be, but it seems too much of a coincidence that it appears in both works (and at the same time shows that the choice of Flegel over Valckenborch for this apect was not without reason).

As a signed Marten van Valckenborch, but far from his best work, it should be worth around 5,000 Euro.

UPDATE: sold for 7200 Euro, more than 3 times the highest estimate and even above my estimate!

UPDATE 2: now again sold at Dorotheum (24 April 2018) as a Marten van Valckenborch, where it fetched  31,250 Euro. A nice profit for whoever bought this a few months ago. Seems too much to me, but it shows the value of picking the right auction house, and even more importantly getting the right attribution (certainly in this case, where it was known all along, not some recent discovery).

Follower of Ambrogio Lorenzetti

Artcurial, from France, sells on 14 November 2017 as lot 443 a "Sienese School, 14th century" triptych with the Virgin an Child, estimated at 20,000 to 30,000 Euro.

The French description adds "Follower of Ambrogio Lorenzetti", which makes sense.

The Saint George and the dragon, from the top left, is clearly modeled after the larger painting by Lorenzetti. The Virgin may also be inspired by the same, but similar positions can be found with many masters of the period.

 However, the crucifixion, and certainly the Magdalen at the bottom of the cross, looks a lot more like the work of Bernardo Daddi (active 1320, died ca. 1348) as in this example from the National Gallery in Washington.

The same Magdalen can be found in a work sold at Sotheby's in 2015, which I found now through the always interesting "Nord on Art" site. This work was sold for $221,000. While many works and artists are referenced in the auction catalogue then, no link to the Daddi work is made.

Finally, while the Virgin is somewhat similar to the work of Ambrogio Lorenzetti, the closest match (and perhaps a common source of inspiration for many Sienese painters of the period) is the work of the Workshop of Giotto in the Ashmolean Museum. The position and structure of the hands, the heads, the colour scheme (minus the headscarf of the Virgin) all seem to hark back to that early example.

All in all, it is a rather damaged work of a follower of the great Sienese painters, but it is very early (circa 1350-1360?), complete, with some rare elements (the George and the Dragon), and should easily be worth the estimate.


UPDATE: sold for 54,600€ or nearly double the highest estimate!

See also this Pietro Lorenzetti, now (January 2018) for sale at Sotheby's New York with an estimate of $300,000 to $400,000.

"Northern Dutch School" seems close to Pieter Aertsen

Tajan, from France, sells on 27 October 2017 a "Northern Dutch School, circa 1580, follower of Joachim Beuckelaer" vegetable market, a large work (114 by 174 cm) estimated at 15,000 to 20,000 Euro.

It seems to be closer to Pieter Aertsen than to Joachim Beuckelaer, although there work is closely related.

Some elements can be found by Aertsen, like the remarkable red hat of the man, or the headdress of the woman. Different versions of this  work are in the Ludwig-Suermondt Museum and in the Stadel.

Another Aertsen shows the same or a similar red hat as well.

Other details like the oversized hat also appear in other Aertsen works, but may me more generic and less artist-specific. The work for sale is probably also not by Aertsen (or Beuckelaer), as the faces are too weak, but it is painted by a good artist anyway.

"Saint Rosalie" is a Virgin of the Litanies

Tajan, from France, sells on 27 October 2017 a "Spanish School, 18th century" Saint Rosalie and attributes, estimated at 600 to 800 Euro.

The work is comparable to one I highlighted in October 2015, and is a depiction of the Virgin with a number of her typical attributes. No idea where they got the idea of a Saint Rosalie from. As in October 2015, this one is extra interesting because it doesn't just show the Marial attributes but names them as well.

The named attributes here are "Electa ut sol", "Stella Maris", "Sipres suve olo", "Rossa inti" (perhaps the reason they thought it a Saint Rosalie?), "Lilium", "Oliva spe", "Fons Ucna", "Spequlum", "Pulchra ut lunt", "Hortus Conclu" and "Sivitas Dei". These are (with more writing errors) about the same as the one in the 2015 image. The fact that some texts and images are cut down seems to indicate that the painting originally was larger (or that part of the painting is hidden behind a frame?).

The work seems more 17th century than 18th century to me, but is not really wel painted in any case, and is again worth more for its cultural value than for purely artistic value.

"Joyful company. Copper" is a copy after Simon de Vos

Tajan, from France, sells on 27 October 2017 a "Joyful Company. Copper" estimated at 1200 to 1500 Euro.

This small work is a partial copy after Simon de Vos, from the Hermitage. Even taking into consideration the smaller size of the work for sale, it seems to lack the rafinesse of an original De Vos, but it is a fairly well executed copy and a typical burlesque Flemish painting of the period, so should be worth the estimate.

Thanks!

This weekend, this blog has surpassed 100,000 page views. Hurrah! While this seems in part to be caused by some bot-like views, with very regular peaks of 20 or 30 views pushing the daily views up to unrealistic heights, it still is a nice milestone and one I didn't expect to get when I started with this labour of love.

A big thank you to all my real readers, regular ones or one-off, and to the many people who have commented about posts, often noticing things or finding images I was unable to find. No thank you to the occasional spammers and to the one auction house that thought to treaten me with legal action for copyright violation, I'm still waiting for the actual legal action.

Disappeared lot: related to the Master of the Tiburtine Sibyl?

Isbilya, from Spain, sells on 25 October 2017 a "Flemish School, 16th century" Crucifixion, estimated at 22,000 Euro.

At least, it is listed like that on Invaluable, the Isbilya website jumps from lot 18 to lot 20 without any explanation, so perhaps this is withdrawn?

Anyway, it is interesting enough to be discussed here even if it isn't for sale right now.

The work seems to be related to the works of the Master of the Tiburtyn Sibyl, as seen here at RKD. But the execution is harder, with brighter, more primary clours, more archaic use of gold, and an almost woodcut-like feeling.

Master of the Salem Altar

I wonder if this isn't a German work, ca. 1480-1500 (so somewhat earlier than the auction catalogue suggested)? The pose of the figures, executed somewhat more childish than usual in early Flemish works (and foreshadowing the Antwerp Mannerism of some 20 yaers later) certainly points in that direction.

Then again, a Spanish work like this one by the Master of Budapest also shares some aspects (in general, but also e.g. the decorated dress of Mary), and as this is an auction in Spain, perhaps it is better to look for a Spanish Master of this style?

Or a Hungarian one ;-) This is the 1470s painting from the Altar of Jánosrét, in Hungary, said to be Hungarian but influenced by Early Netherlandish, Flemish painting.

All in all, it is hard to pinpoint a region (though I would go for Germany, due to the woodcut-aspects), but the period seems to be late 15th century, more likely than the 16th century.

If it genuinely is a work of that period, it should be worth the estimate, as it looks to be in good condition.