Thursday 9 November 2017

Nice collection at Galerie Moderne (part 2)

Galerie Moderne, from Belgium, sells on 14 November 2017 the small but nice collection of paintings from "Madame D." It doesn't contain any masterpieces, but it has a fair share of interesting, diverse, old paintings, and the catalogue is rather short on descriptions and attributions which gives me some space to deal with these.

Lot 203 is a "16th century Flemish" Saint John the Baptist, estimated at 2,500 to 3,500 Euro. The small (47 by only 18 cm) panel was probably the left wing of a diptych or triptych.

I haven't found other examples of the same position, but the style reminds me of some works by Adriaen Isenbrant. This work is probably from Bruges, ca. 1550, from the circle of Isenbrant, and the estimate seems about right.


The type harks back to examples by Memling and Gerard David, like in the above work by David from the Met.

UPDATE: sold for 2,400 Euro, as expected.



Lot 205 is a landscape "attributed to Lucas van Valckenborch", estimated at 4,000 to 6,000 Euro. The painting, "professionally" attributed with a Dymo label (!),  is probably not by Van Valckenborch (1535-1597), but by a follower of Patinir or Herri met de Bles. The jagged rock is typical for these artists and their followers. It's hard to put a name on it though, perhaps someone like Cornelis van Dalem (ca. 1530-1575)? The whole is evocative and typical for the period, but not really expertly executed.

A comparable Herri met de Bles is this work found at RKD, which was at the Schaeffer Galleries in the 1950s but I have no idea where it is now. It not only has the rock, but also a similar bridge and village (or cloister).

As a work by a follower of Bles, it probably is worth about the estimate: this type of work is always popular.

UPDATE: sold for 7,500 Euro, a bit above the high estimate.

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