Marten van Valckenborch or Gillis Van Conincxloo

Bremens & Belleville, from France, sells on 16 June 2019 an "Attributed to Marten van Valckenborch" Alexander and Diogenes, estimated at 5,000 to 7,000 Euro.

The RKD lists two other versions of this work, both attributed to & "Follower of Gillis Van Coninxloo II".

The first is a drawing in the British Museum, with some detail differences in the composition but basically showing the same work, but by a different hand.

The second work was sold at Tajan in 2008, according to the RKD. At first I thought it was this work (but cleaned) that reappeared at auction now, as it has the same dimensions (50 by 66 cm) and the same crack in the middle. However, closer inspection show some differences, e.g. in the castle at the right (more elegant in the Tajan version), or in the people directly to the left of the central tree, which can't be explained by cleaning only. So it looks as if these are two versions of this work by the same hand or workshop.

"Italian School, 18th century" is follower of Marcellus Coffermans / Isenbrandt / Benson

Bremens Belleville, from France, sells on 19 March 2017 an "Italian School, 18th century" Virgin and Child, estimated at 800 to 1,200 Euro.

It is a late version of a purely Flemish work, originally by either Ambrosius Benson or Adriaen Isenbrant in Bruges in the early 16th century, and known from many versions of wildly varying quality. This one is far from the best, but the description is so far off that I couldn't resist writing about it anyway. I wrote previously about the same composition, the last time in September 2016.

Rosebery's, from England, sells on 29 March 2017 yet another version of this work, which at first I thought was also incorrectly described as "Follower of Marcellus Coffermans 1520-1578", estimated at £1,500 to £2,500.

Coffermans? Where did they get that idea from? Turns out that Sotheby's sold a similar work (also in an elaborate frame) in 2012 as by a "Follower of Coffermans", for which they got a nice £13,750.

So, what are the two works for sale worth? The French one is the worst of the lot, and probably the latest, and all power of the original composition has been dissolved in some sweet religious marketing colour scheme. Probably about wrth the estimate, as it isn't a truly bad painting and somewhat interesting as a late example of this composition, but nothing really attractive either. The Rosebery's one is a lot better, though still a far cry from the Sotheby's version or some of the older versions shown in earlier blog posts. Still, it should be worth £2,000.