1500 Euro "Probably Flemish" painting is version of major work by Hendrik van Balen

Scheublein, from Germany, sells on 16 March 2018 a "Probably Flemish, 17th century" Moses struck water from the rock", a large canvas (108 by 140 cm) estimated at 1,500 Euro. The auction house also mentions that on the back it is described a "in the style of Frans Francken".

The work is actually a large copy of a work by Hendrick van Balen from the Shipley Gallery in Gateshead (found through the invaluable ArtUK).

NICE (the National Inventory of Continental Paintings) has some further information on the work, including old attributions to Frans Francken (hah!) and Paul Bril, and the existence of another copy (on copper, so not this one) in Vienna.

The Shipley version is in better condition, but it is hard to tell whether the issues with the work for sale are all caused by conservation issues or also by simply being a less well executed copy. The version for sale works a bit better as a composition in my opinion, the Shipley version has e.g. a very straight line just left of the middle between foreground and background, where the Scheublein version has a more natural, organic feel to it.

Another version of the work (dated 1607) was for sale at Christie's in December 2017, with an estimate of £30,000 to £50,000, but it apparently didn't sell. Christie's doesn't show its recent unsold items though apparently (booh!). Judging from the small picture I could find, it looks as if the background in that version is closer to the one for sale than to the one at Shipley. It presumably was a superior version to the one for sale, but without better images I really can't be sure.

More impressive is another version that was sold at Aguttes, in France, in 2012. Estimated at a hefty 70,000 to 90,000 Euro, this small version on copper (30 by 65 cm) sold for 969,000 Euro (full price). This version definitely looks to be better painted than the one for sale though, and certainly much better conserved...

It seems to me that the work for sale is in any case worth considerably more than the estimate, and should fetch 5,000 Euro as a good, large copy after Van Balen. If it turns out to be a real Van Balen which just needs some TLC, then the value could be a lot higher still. But at 1,500 Euro it is a steal.

UPDATE: sold for 5,500 Euro, the price I gave if it was a good copy and not an original.