Spinning virgin

At Bill Hood, 24 March 2015, they sell an "Attributed to Zurbaran" 17th century picture of "Little Mary", estimated at $10,000 to $15,000. While a Zurbaran attribution seems somewhat optimistic, it is an interesting example of a Spanish type of picture I wasn't aware of until now. According to the Prado, this is a so-called "Virgen niña hilando" or "Virgin child spinning", an originally Sevillan type from (indeed) the surroundings of Zurbaran, and which was also popular in South America. UPDATE: it sold, but I don't know for how much...

The one for sale here is one of the best I could find, and the only one with such an elaborate interior and background angels, most ones are much more plain (a chair or at most a table as only decoration) or have a flower border but nothing else. The detailing here (e.g. in the dress) is vastly superior to most other examples.

The Prado one is the only somewhat comparable example, and is even better, but then again, it's the Prado we're comparing with here :-) But otherwise, you'll be hard pressed to find a better Spinning Virgin example anytime soon. Is it worth the estimate? No idea, depends on how many people or museums want this type of painting. But it is good and unusual enough to warrant highlighting.

Alfred Stevens

While browsing auctions, I (too) often come across works by or attributed to Alfred Stevens. Stevens is a wonderful artist, with a very precise, detailed style, vibrant colours, a perfect symbol of the high society of the late 19th century. Some of his works fetch up to $1 million, making him interesting to fakers, either creating new works or taking copies or similar works and adding a signature. The number of works appearing on the market, and the wildly varying quality, make this obvious.

The above work is an example, and far from the most egregious. At Bill Hood & Sons Auctions you can now buy "Le Salon du Peintre", attributed to Stevens, for an estimated $3,000 to $6,000. May be worth it, that's personal taste, but if you want the real deal, you should search for the below version in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels. Comparing the two, I wouldn't dare to attribute the above version to Stevens and would call it a 20th-century copy of the work. The colours, the detailing (the floor!), the way the man on the left is painted... don't fit with Stevens or the period at all. It's not that painters don't paint different versions of the same work (they do) or don't make preparatory works, but this is just too inferior and different. UPDATE: didn't sell, luckily...