Selected works from French auctions

Browsing to Interenchères (the site grouping most French auctions, apart from the Drouot group mainly), I came across some copies or otherwise interesting paintings which on their own don't merit a blog post, but together may bring some light entertainment.

Versailles enchères sells on 4 May 2019 a "French School, in the manner of Jean Fouquet" portrait of a gentleman, estimated at 80 to 100 Euro. It is a very small panel (17 by 11,5 cm), and the estimate seems to indicate a much later date. However, I see no obvious reason to dismiss this painting as a later work, and the actual date on it (1545, though there may be some "I" missing at the end) is perfectly in line with the style of painting, clothing, beard, ... It is not good enough to be by Fouquet or the like, and I haven't been able to identify the sitter, but if it is an original from 1545, it should be worth 2,000 Euro or thereabouts.

Poitiers enchères sells on 11 May 2019 an "Icon" of the Virgin and Child, a panel painting of just 23 by 17 cm, estimated at 50 to 100 Euro.

It is a copy of the Cambrai Madonna, a 15th(?) century painting thought at the time to be actually painted by Saint Luke (and thus showing the "true image" of the Virgin), copied hundreds of times, and influential in bringing the post-Byzantine style to France and the Netherlands (I already discussed this in a previous post about another copy). This one is probably 17th or 18th century, but is charming and should be worth 500 Euro.

Herbette, in Doullens, sells on 12 May 2019 a "Flemish School, 16th century" Apostle in an Italienate landscape, estimated at 1,300 to 1,700 Euro.

It is one of many weak copies after Maarten de Vos (probably through the above engraving by Joannes Sadeler I, courtesy of the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts) and will struggle to fetch the estimate.

The same auction also has an "Italian School, late 17th century" Presentation of Jesus to Saint Catherine (also often known as the Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine), a fair-sized (108 by 104 cm) oil on panel estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 Euro. If I had to spend either 1,300 Euro on the above lot or 2,000 Euro on this one, I would choose this one immediately, even though the other is presumably older and in theory closer to my interests.

It is a good copy after Correggio. The original, from the 1520s, can be found in the Louvre, and has about the same dimensions. This copy is painted in a more "sweet", romantic palette, an effect which is mainly caused by being somewhat less detailed and thus lacking some shadows and lines, and having larger patches of uniform colour (and looking more pink as well). But even so it is an attractive, well-executed copy, much better than what one usually gets. I'm not convinced it isn't a lot earlier than the date suggested by the auctioneer, but in any case I guess it should be worth 5,000 Euro. A slightly better copy fetched 8,000 Euro at Bukowski's, while a worse copy fetched £3,000 at Christie's in 2000, and one from the Newark Museum sold for $2,750 at Christie's in 2016.

7 Nice lots at Vanderkindere

Vanderkindere, from Belgium, sells on 29 and 30 April 2019 a nice selection of lots at their monthly auction.

One of these is lot 450, which is a painting they already offered twice before and which I discussed in a blog post from November 2017. It still has the wrong attribution (nothing to do with Honthorst, but circe of Passarotti instead), but at an estimated 1,000 Euro it still is a good buy.

UPDATE: sold for 2,400 Euro, whoever bought it now missed a chance to get it for half the price a year ago!

Other lots which caught my eye include:

*Lot 55, "Attributed to Pieter Bruegel the Younger", the village lawyer, estimated at 50,000 to 70,000 Euro. This work is known from multiple copies, some somewhat better than this one. Even so, this one seems not too expensive, as a very similar one (but smaller) sold at Bonham's in 2007 for £423,000 (and prices for this painter don't seem to have dropped since then).

Another version (better painted, worse condition) sold at Christie's in 2013 for £1,000,000!

And Sotheby's sold one in 2012 for 1,2 million pounds... Another good version can be found in the Museum of Ghent. All in all, the current estimate seems very cautious.

UPDATE: indeed, sold for 540,000 Euro!

*Lot 134 is a full series of allegories of the 4 elements by Jan Brueghel I. With an estimate of 150,000 to 180,000 Euro, it is one of the more expensive lots ever offered at this auction house, but it seems worth it. Paintings of the individual elements (the above order is fire, air, earth and water) can be found with some regularity at auction, and there is also a composition of this artist with all four elements in one painting: but full sets of four are rare. These ones are small, which explains why they are less detailed or precise than some examples in major museums. The "air" is a standard composition by Brueghel (who was often assisted by Hendrick van Balen in these works), the "fire" seems to be a lesser known variation though.

In 2010 Christie's sold another full set, for $2,200,000... These ones were clearly larger, better painted, and with an impressive provenance, so it's unlikely that the one for sale now will fetch the same. Still, it gives an idea of the importance of such a set.

UPDATE: sold for 135,000 Euro, so slightly below the estimate but still an impressive result.

*Lot 259 is a set of two paintings. Especially the first one, a "Christ healing the blind", seems to be the work of a very good artist (or a good copy after a very good painting), some master from the later Antwerp baroque style. If you happen to recognise the artist and believe it to be an original, I guess the estimate of 1,500 to 2,000 Euro may turn out to be a bargain.

UPDATE: sold for 1,400 Euro, so this didn't really catch the attention like I thought it would.

*Lot 360 is a portrait presumed to be of Christopher Packe, Lord Mayor of London in 1654. The painting isn't done terribly well, but it is historically interesting and I could not find a decent contemporary portrait painting of the man, so to find one in his mayoral robe and chain is a bonus.

He does have a magnificent sculpture on his tomb though (which I found on a blog about the Pack family history). Packe seems to have played a major role in the Cromwell story, so I guess this painting may be of special interest to people fascinated by this curious period in British history.

UPDATE: sold for 2,100 Euro against a 1,200 Euro estimate.

*Lot 381 is a better than usual, and less common than usual as well, Frans Francken II: a "liberation of Saint Peter" estimated at a very reasonable 2,000 Euro. I could find no other versions of this composition, which is painted very delicately.

UPDATE: sold for 5,800 Euro, painting was indeed clearly underestimated.

*Finally, lot 419, "School of the Master of Hoogstraeten" lamentation, with a 7,000 to 10,000 Euro estimate. I tried to find a better match, but so far failed to identify an artist for this work, which is very well preserved and has some very good detailing.

UPDATE: sold for 14,000 Euro.

The auction contains quite a few other interesting Flemish old masters, like a nice portrait from 1636 attributed to Cornelis de Vos with a 2,000 Euro estimate, and a bargain "attributed to Frans Pourbus II" with the same estimate, but this blog post is long enough as it is already.

UPDATE: one I didn't list was a flower piece by Balthasar van der Ast. Estimated, if I recall coorectly, at about 15,000 Euro, it fetched 165,000 Euro instead! It didn't strike me as that exceptional, but it indicates how filled with goodies this auction was. The 2,000 Euro De Vos sold for 10,000 Euro, so that one at least I got right. And the Pourbus went for 24,000 Euro against a 2,000 Euro estimate.

Reusing elements from engravings

Horta, from Belgium, sells on 29 April 2019 a "Flemish School, 17th century" Stoning of Saint Stephen, estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 Euro.

The work is not really impressive and looks likely to be based on an engraving. And while I haven't found a complete engraving this may be taken from yet, at least the central figure can be traced directly.

It comes from a work by Jacopo Palma, better known as Palma Vecchio (1480-1528), engraved by Aegidius Sadeler around 1600, which I found at the Rijksmuseum site.

As is obvious from the above comparison, the painter of the work for sale wasn't really a great talent, technically able to copy poses, but out of his depth when he had to create e.g. the face of the saint. This leads me to believe that the other figures also are copied after engravings. The value of the work is about 1,000 Euro. 

A look behind the scenes of my blogs

Nachtmann, from Germany, sells on 10 April 2019 a "Gothic portrait, dated 1535" (Gothic as in the late Medieval time period, not the 19th century horror style), estimated at 1,500 Euro.

I notice such works either through general auction bundling sites (Lottissimmo, the Saleroom, invaluable, interenchères, Drouot, Lauritzen, ...) or at a specific auction, which is the most exhausting part; going through hundreds or thousands of (usually small) pictures, filtered to increase the chances of finding what you like most (but also increasing the chances that you will miss the mislabeled and thus extra interesting ones). Opening the ones that seem interesting. Discarding 95% again as either much worse up close than in miniature, or as correctly described and priced. This part requires experience, knowledge, and luck (as even with experience and knowledge you're bound to dismiss sleepers at this stage).

Then start doing some research on the other 5%. Find a balance between spending too much time on a single one (a syou only have limited time), and discarding one too fast if you don't immediately find an interesting starting point for your research.

Good things to research are paintings with a clear, recognisable subject (bible stories, mythological stories, ...), with clearly describable aspects (an animal, something in a still life or memento mori) or with an inscription. Recognising  or partially deciphering signatures which the auctioneer either has misread or described as "undecipherable" is also a good way to find hidden gems. Of course, when you recognise the style, the artist, or even the painting, it gets a lot easier still.

So, for this one, it was immediately obvious that it was made by a very good artist, and needed further research. And it had a date and an inscription, which gave good possibilities.

At first, the inscription looked like Fl Exyscoxf de resester / ???seihd JE Covgf Com 1535. Which, apart from "1535" (or 1525), doesn't really rang any bells.

But then I reread the "Exyscoxf", and realised that instead of "x", it might be a "g" or a "p": and "Epyscopf" suddenly made sense, as it seemed to refer to a bishop.

Initials, bishop de "recester"? A place ending in "cester" sounds very British, so I looked on Wikipedia at the list of English dioceses, and "Rochester" was the closest match. Remember that in those days, there often wasn't one fixed spelling, so as long as it is similar enough, it is a good possibility.

Next step? Go to Google Images, and type in bishop Rochester 1535. Bingo!

Other versions of the same drawing, showing that the sitter is John Fisher (1469-1535), bishop of Rochester, and the drawing is the work of Hans Holbein the Younger. It is part of the Royal Collection (from Windsor Castle).

While the work for sale is beautifully drawn, it is of course rather problematic that we have another version with the same inscription but presumably better provenance. The one for sale also seems to show a different technique in shaping the face, with many short lines in all directions creating volume and shadows, which seems to my eye not the usual technique of Holbein. But not the work of a simply copymaker either, this is someone who knows very well how to draw, and can even improve on a Holbein (I prefer the eyes in the work for sale to the original).

So, what do we have here and what is it worth?

If it would be an original by Holbein, priceless. Only two "real", certain drawings have come onto the market in the last two decades, and they were a lot smaller and in my opinion more boring and still fetched around 100,000 Euro.

If it is a 16th or 17th century copy, up to 5,000 Euro. Only a few copies of this drawing seem to be known, including one in the British Museum which is good but not as good as the one here.
If it is a much more recent copy, I guess the estimate is about right. 

UPDATE: sold for 8,000 Euro!

"17th century Master from Kronach" is a copy after Lucas Cranach the Elder

Schlosser, from Germany, sells on 5 April 2019 a "17th century Master from Kronach" Jesus and the adulteress (or "He who is without sin...", estimated at 5,000 Euro.

The work is a good copy after Lucas Cranach. It looks slightly more modern than the original, but whether it is by Lucas Cranach the Younger or another follower is not clear to me. As the Cranachs were from Kronach (hence the name), the description clearly hinted at this, but it could have been clearer...

Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, 1532

Kronach Museum, ca. 1520

 National Gallery, Canada, ca. 1535-1540

 National Gallery, Prague, after 1537

National Museum, Stockholm

Cranach the Elder (or his workshop) has made multiple, slightly varying versions of this work. The Prague version is one of the closer versons, with e.g. the two bearded heads left and right of Christ almost identical to the one for sale. On the other hand, the Christ is closer to the Stockholm version (e.g. holding the hand of the adulteress).

A more complete overview of Cranach's versions can be found at the "Corpus Cranach" at the University of Heidelberg.

There I fould the closest match to the work for sale; a version from the Aschaffenburg Museum. I show the one for sale beneath it for easy comparison. The major visual difference is the colour of the dress. Apart from this, the paintings are very comparable, perhaps the one for sale is somewhat harsher in the treatment of contours and shadows. Since the other colours are so close to the original, the changed dress is not due to this being a copy after a drawing or an engraving, but a deliberate choice by the artist. Another version of this work was in the Pinakothek in Munich in 1937 (no idea if it is still there, destroyed during the war, or otherwise changed hands), but that one was enlarged at the top. A third version, with what looks to be a more violet-coloured dress, is said at the Cranach Corpus to be in private hands. It has the same dimensions and is otherwise very comparable as well, so it might be the one for sale, or just another version. The Corpus considers the Aschaffenburg one as a genuine (workshop or Cranach), they have no opinion on the Munich version, and they consider the third one as ''not from the workshop''.

I would call this a somewhat later copy, perhaps workshop or perhaps a close follower, and it should be worth closer to 20,000 Euro as such, as Cranachs are always popular.

UPDATE: sold for 5,000 Euro, exactly at the auction estimate and way below mine.

"Flemish, ca. 1520" was previously sold as "Style of Van der Goes", is copy after Van der Weyden

Schlosser, from Germany, sells on 5 April 2019 a "Flemish Master, ca. 1520" Descent from the Cross, estimated at 15,000 Euro.

It is a work I previously discussed in 2016 when it was for sale (repeatedly) at Hampel as a Circle of (or later Style of) Hugo van der Goes. The first sale had an estimate of 40,000 to 60,000 Euro, and sold for 36,000 Euro. It then was offered again for 20,000 to 25,000 Euro, and I presume failed to sell.

And now it appears again with an even lower estimate, which is actually a very interesting price for a high quality copy after Van der Weyden, in a style reminiscent of Quentin Massys.

UPDATE: sold for 17,000 Euro. 

"Attributed to Cornelis de Vos" is workshop of Jacob Jordaens

Stahl, from Germany, sells on 13 April 2019 an "attributed to Cornelis de Vos" portrait of a lady, estimated at 3,500 Euro.

It is actually a partial copy of Jordaens' "Portrait of a young married couple" from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The painting for sale is 48 by 42 cm, while the full original is 124 by 92 cm. It looks as if the version for sale is, for the same section of the work, actually somewhat bigger than the original. It is also slightly darker, and slightly less precise painted.

Even so, it is a beautiful work, very close to the original, and may be considered a workshop copy of one of the best Jordaens portraits from the height of his career. As such, seeing that it is a very attractive work which will appeal to many collectors (not some religious or obscure mythological topic, but a self-assured young woman with a characterfull look) it should be easily worth 20,000 Euro, and may well fetch 50,000 Euro if two collectors fall in love with it.

UPDATE: sold for 50,000 Euro!