A copy with many originals

De Baecque, from France, sells on 28 Mai 2019 a "Flemish School, early 17th century" Jesus and Caiaphas, a large canvass (113 by 170 cm) estimated at 2,500 to 3,500 Euro.

It has an enigmatic monogram in the bottom right corner.

They indicate that it is a copy after an original in the Saint Omer Cathedral.

The original is a Frans Francken of 3 by 7 metres!

But the RKD gives us the probable origin of that painting, an even older engraving after Marten de Vos (this copy from the Grenoble Museum).

Is the Saint-Omer painting really by Francken? The British Museum has a large engraving showing a rather similar composition, but in this case it is given as "after Claude Deruet".

A reverse image of higher quality can be found at Gallica. This engraving is dated 1617. But though close, it is a different composition still.

The exact same composition though (excluding aspects of the background) can also be found on an engraving at the British Museum, and this time the original artist is given as Ambrosius Francken by the British Museum, although the engraving says it is after Frans Francken. This print is from.the 1760s.

All in all, it is hard to be certain what the actual original is for this work, and when to date it. The Saint Omer page indicates that other copies are known, e.g. in the magnificent Hôtel-Dieu in Beaune, but I haven't been able to find an image of that one. It is supposed to have the higher background we also find in the work for sale and in the bottom-most engraving I show.

UPDATE: not sold.

UPDATE 2: again for sale at De Baecque on 18 November 2019, now estimated 1,800 to 2,000 Euro.

UPDATE 3: sold for 1700 Euro, and apparently now for sale at John Nicholson, in the UK, with an estimate of £3,000 to £4,000 (and a poorer image).

"17th century Flemish School": a Hieronymus Francken III?

"Européenne de ventes", from Bourg-en-Bresse in France (the city of the wonderful Monastère de Brou), sells on 21 February 2019 a "Flemish School, 17th century" Christ carrying the cross, an oil on copper of 36 by 28 cm estimated at, well, no idea, they don't give an estimate.

Francken II, Lille Museum of Fine Arts

It is one of the better copies of a well-known Francken composition. This one doesn't have the more subdued colours of Frans Francken II, the sometimes pale blues and browns one often sees in his work.

The auction house, which seems to handle fine art not too often and doesn't have an up-to-date website (getting the work to you if you can't be at the auction in person may be harder or more expensive!), provides many pictures, but not one with a really good view of the work as a whole. Even so, it is clear that the work is painted skillfully and is in good condition overall.

Gallerie Barrez, from Paris, sold the above work as "attributed to Hieronymus Francken III". To me, the colours, and overall look, are very similar, so I presume that the one for sale now may also be attributed tentatively to him, or to the rather similar Ambrosius Francken II.

The work, as can be seen in the above details, is really a lot better than most Francken copies (but still far from a Frans Francken II original), and should be worth 2,000 to 3,000 Euro at least.

We weren't the only ones to spot this good Francken...

La Suite, from Spain, sold on 27 September 2018 a "16th century Flemish school" Moses striking the rock, a nice-sized (51 by 39) oil on copper estimated at 2,000 to 2,500 Euro.

It was a very good version, in reasonably good condition as well (could do with a cleaning), of a work by Francken (either Frans Francken II or Hieronymus Francken III), and as such worth a lot more than the low estimate (and dating to the first half of the 17th century instead of to the 16th century).

The RKD showed a worse version, attributed to the Circle of Frans Francken II, from the Museum of Quimper. The landsdcape aspect turned it into a much less impressive composition

A much more comparable version is in the Liechtenstein Museums (part of the Hohenbuchau collection, a very nice private collection containing works by Rubens, Mandyn, Jan Brueghel, ...). The main difference is on the left side, where the addition of a woman getting water out of the brand-new stream explains the look of the other two (here three) women to the left: in the version for sale, they seem to stare at nothing instead of caring for the swooned maiden on the right. The Liechtenstein version also has an additional group of three persons in the middle.

But the quality of painting is very close, with the version for sale perhaps a tad less brilliant. This is far removed from the many, many Franckens from the school of, circle of, followers of, and so on which appear in every old master sale for, depending on the quality, 2,000 to 10,000 Euro. This is a work of 20,000 Euro or more, the best undiscovered Francken I noticed since the one at Horta in 2016.

Great find, but not too hard: the auction house had 10 (ten!) telephone bidders for this one...

UPDATE: sold for 18,000 Euro, close to what I thought it would be worth!

17th century "Martyrdom of a saint" is related to Simon de Vos and Frans Francken

Carlo Bonte, from Belgium, sells on 13 June 2018 a "17th century, unsigned" Martyrdom of a saint, estimated at 600 to 800 Euro.

This rather lage (55 by 72 cm) oil on copper is probably a depiction of the beheading of Saint Paul, and seems to be the work of Simon de Vos or someone from his circle. His depiction of the same story, now in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, shows many similarities, especially in the way the executioner is shown. The white horse with yellow decoration is also a typical De Vos element.

While the composition reminds me most of Simn de Vos, the style of painting is closer to the Francken family. The above poor picture shows a martyrdom of Saint Catherine which is attributed to Frans Francken II, and where the position of the executioner and the horse are similar to the work for sale (although the genral posture is closer to the Simon de Vos actually, but the clothing is more like the Bonte work).

Even as an anonymous Flemish work, this one should fetch 2,000 to 3,000 Euro.

Silence

Apologies for my long silence, I have been very busy in real life, interspersed with a fine holiday, and have had very little time to spend on auction hunting, never mind bog writing.

I did try to win the above unrecognised Francken ("early 18th century", no country or artist) by bidding double the estimate, but that still wasn't sufficient, so it seems that not everyone has taken time off from bargain hunting sadly ;-) It was apparently damaged (rubbed) over the years, but showed real skill in what remained, much better than the usual Francken ripoffs, though not at the level of a real first-hand Frans Francken probably.

I'll try to post more frequently again, but no promises as real life takes precedence over this great but time-consuming hobby.

"C. 1800 Massacre of the innocents" is neither

Horta, from Belgium, sells on 22 January 2018 a "Flemish School, ca. 1800" "Massacre of the Innocents", an oil on copper estimated at 3,500 to 5,000 Euro.

The work depicts the slaying of adult women, and their immediate elevation to the sainthood as martyrs, and is thus obviously not a "massacre of the innocents" which involves babies and toddlers. The most famous episode of such a massacre in old master paintings is probably the story of Saint Ursula and her 11,000 virgins (known from the Memling masterpiece or someone like the Master of the Saint Ursula Legend).

The work for sale is painted by or after the Francken workshop (though it is one of the many mediocre Francken pieces, not one of the rarer examples which show the true genius of some of the Francken family members). Another, much dirtier but otherwise very similar version was sold as "circle of Frans Francken II" by Christie's in 2011 for £2,250. The version for sale now is not the cleaned version of that one though, which has an extra figure at the bottom centre, and is marginally larger (56 by 74 instead of 54 by 70 cm).

A much better version by Francken can also be found online, but I haven't found the location or auction house or price behind this one.

As happened quite a few times, the origin of the composition is not a Francken, but Peter Paul Rubens. Copyright and plagiarism were regarded differently then than they are now... These preliminary versions can be found in the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua (RKD), and in the Museum of Brussels (again, RKD)

As a Circle of Francken II "Saint Ursula" from c. 1650, the estimate is probably about right.

And if you like Francken, you can also check out this "Flemish School 17th century" Resurrection of Lazarus, estimated at 400 to 600€, from the same auction. It is again a work from the circle of the Franckens (especially the Lazarus is identical across many interpretations, the position of the Christ changes somewhat from version to version). It is badly damaged, but cheap, and as Franckens go it is one of the better (though not top quality of course)!

UPDATE: the Saint Ursula sold for 2200 Euro (and had its description changed after I wrote my post), and the Lazarus for 400 Euro.

Wise and Foolish Virgins

Accademia Fine Art, from Monaco, sells on 17 December 2017 an "Attributed to Frans Francken" scene of merrymaking, estimated at 7,000 to 9,000 Euro.

The scene is the Parable of the 5 Wise and the 5 Foolish Virgins, which was quite popular in the 17th century in Flanders and is known from a few recurring compositions (see e.g. my post from April 2015).

This one can indeed be situated with the Franckens, although one sold at Christie's in 2009 was attributed to Pieter Lisaert, according to the RKD. That one fetched $25,000. The main difference, apart from the quality and condition, seems to be the castle scene on the upper right, where the foolish virgins are drinking wine. Daring! The dimensions are nearly identical though (72 by 105 vs. 73 by 104)

Another version is attributed to Francken.

The copy for sale is rather weak and definitely not made by Francken himself, and the estimate seems rather steep. Getting 3,000 to 4,000 for it would be a very good result.

UPDATE: not sold, again for sale on 31 January 2018 (now as a Frans Francken II, not "attributed to"!) with an estimate of 3,200 to 3,800 Euro, which is more realistic but still optimistic.

A nice Flemish drawing at the same auction (which had already been offered last year, if my memory doesn't deceive me), is actually a copy after Gerard Seghers (engraving by Paulus Pontius). The 320 Euro estimate certainly isn't excessive, but don't expect to buy an original design by a master...

"Follower of Francken" is copy after Simon de Vos

Pastaud, in Limoges, France, sells on 14 May 2017 a "Flemish School, ca. 1630, follower of Frans Francken" "The Meeting of Melchidezek", estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 Euro.

The work is a copy after "The Meeting of David and Abigail" by Simon de Vos, now in the Hermitage. While Francken has also painted this scene, the version for sale has much more elements in common with De Vos, from the white horse with the long manes on the left over the helmet of David to the two camels and the donkey on the right.

De Vos has painted a few versions of this subject, with some variations but with the same basic elements. This one is from the Musée des Augustins, from about 1655.

As a copy after De Vos, the work should be dated closer to the end of the 17th century. The estimate probably stays about the same.

UPDATE: again for sale at same auction house on 28 January 2018 for an estimated 800 to 1,000 Euro, which is a bargain.

"Follower of Philippe de Champaigne" is Follower of Frans Francken instead

Crait+Müller, from Paris (part of the Drouot empire), sells on 29 April 2017 a "17th century French school, follower of Philippe de Champaigne" Crucifixion, estimated at 800 to 1200 Euro.

I can't see any resemblance to de Champaigne, the work is a typical School of Frans Francken composition.

I discussed similar works already a long time ago, in March 2015, when a much better version was sold at Drouot. That blog included a few very similar works, with only the central panel different.

The system of the Franckens can be seen beautifully in these works. This version had a fixed border, but with alternative scenes where needed; e.g. in the lower example, there is a crucifixion scene on the right. In the one for sale, and the upper example, the crucufixion is already the central scene, so repeating this as a border scene would be weird, and it gets replaced with a not really clear scene, perhaps an element from a Last Judgment?

The upper example is identical to the one for sale, but for a minor variation in the central crucifixion. That one was sold in 2011 for 2,400 Euro. The one for sale now is perhaps a bit less appealing, as it lacks a splash of colour and is a cheap or late Francken work, not one of the very good more original ones which fetch 10,000 Euro and more quite easily, but at 800 Euro, it would be a very nice bargain, and it should be worth closer to 2,000 Euro.

A much more elaborate example can be seen in the Museum M in Leuven, Belgium.

"18th century school" is copy after Frans Francken

Cambi aste, from Italy, sells on 28 March 2017 an  "18th century school" Marriage of Cana, estimated at 800 to 1,000 Euro.

It is a slightly modified version of a Frans Francken composition I have already discussed a few times. In this case, the canopy is more elaborate, some classical architectural elements are added, and the garden on the left is more a park landscape than usual. The two cartouches on the right, another new element, have a text but it is badly faded and now is illisible.

The work isn't an original Francken (Cana version from the Hermitage shown) but a later copy, but even so it is a low estimate for this work.

"Circle of Anthonie Palamedesz" is Follower of Francken or Lisaert

Freeman's, from the USA, sells on 23 January 2017 a "Circle of Anthonie Palamedesz" "Interior with Female Figures", estimated at $2,000 to $3,000.

It is the same composition as a painting I already discussed in April 2015; a depiction of the story of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, which goes back to a composition by (presumably) Hieronymus Francken and which was often copied, mainly by members of the Lisaert family. I will not repeat the whole story here, you can read it again at the older blog post. Although they hard to really see on this version, it is remarkable that the three paintings at the top are always different ones, as if they got a version where these weren't painted already and just had a description "add some depictions of naughty or terrible stories like Lot and his Daughters".

This one here is a bit more naive and slightly more modern perhaps than the other ones, and the estimate seems about right (although the painting is damaged and will cost a bit to get right again). But the attribution is quite a way off. 

Variation on the Tower of Babel, probably from the Francken clan

Dorotheum, from Austria, sells on 22 December 2016 a "Flemish School, 17th century" Tower of Babel of unusual dimensions (25 by 76 cm), estimated at 4,000 to 6,000 Euro.

I could find no other examples of this composition, which may be a (large) fragment of a bigger (higher) work: the cutting off of the top of the Tower is a bit strange.

The closest examples are some works by Frans Francken (I or II). The remarkable blue roofs on the Tower can be seen in the above Francken from ca. 1620.

The use of big figures in the foreground which nearly dwarf the actual tower is also rather unusual, but has been practiced most often by Francken.

The work for sale seems, looking at both the composition and the style, to have been inspired by the works of Frans Francken, and is good enough to be by one of the lesser or later members of the clan, like Frans Francken III.

E.g. the  boy on the left can be compared with similar figures in other Francken works.

The King, and his turban / crown, also is comparable to other works by one of the Franckens.

In 2008, it was for sale in Italy at Blindarte as a work by Frans Francken II with an estimate of 25,000 to 35,000 Euro, which was a bit too much. However, the current estimate seems too low,  more of a come-and-get-me one, and the work should be worth about 8,000 Euro.

UPDATE: sold for 5,000 Euro only.