"C. 1550 Benediction of Jacob" is a c. 1615 Annunciation after Frans Francken II

Vassy et Jelanques, France, sells on 4 February 2017 a "Flemish school, ca. 1550" Benediction of Jacob, a very small panel (19 by 25 cm) estimated at 600 to 800 Euro.

It is immediately obvious that this isn't a Benediction of Jacob, but an Annunciation instead. 1550 also seems somewhat early for the work, it shows more Baroque influences.

Some searchng led to the above work, sold in 1998 at Dorotheum as Ambrosius Francken, but at RKD listed as anonymous, ca. 1617 (the specific date is based on a marking on the panel). This version is a lot bigger and better though.

Another copy, this time attributed to Frans Francken II, can be found in the Art Institute of Chicago. It is a lot closer in size to this one (29 by 23 cm) and also closer in execution (the main difference in composition is that the one for sale has the flowers at the front which can also be seen at the Ambrosius version, but otherwise this version is much more similar).

The one for sale is of course not as good, but even so I have the feeling that a good cleaning and perhaps restoration of the work for sale will reveal a work that is rather close to the Francken, and would be worth more than the current estimate. The fact that the colours are identical also indicates a source close to Francken, and not just some copy after an engraving. Some basic cleanup has been done in the centre, and the clothes and hands seem to indicate a rather good painter, although the faces  are probably a bit weaker. Worth a punt!

UPDATE: a kind reader informed me that the error apparently was only at interenchères, where for some reason two pictures were mixed together. In reality there were two lots, one Flemish School Benediction (shown above), and one (discussed here) annunciation, which they attributed to Pieter Lisaert (fair enough, Lisaert often copied Francken so this might well be correct). The Lisaert sold for 1,500 Euro, more than double the estimate, so others saw potential in it as well. The Benediction remained unsold.

"Attributed to Frans Francken" looks like the real deal

Horta, from Belgium,  sells on 17 October 2016 a "17th c. Flemish School, attributed to Frans Franck (sic)" Victory of Alexander, estimated at 10,000 to 12,000 Euro.

For once, an "attributed to" doesn't look like a "good but not good enough" or simply "copy after", but may well be really by the artist, in this case Frans Francken II.

A work very close to it, of about the same dimensions, is listed in the RKD database as being in a Swiss private collection and by Frans Francken II. It also gives us the correct scene, not a victory of Alexander the Great but the Biblical meeting between David and Abigail. The main (tiny) differences between the two version are the top of the mountain at the right (a kind of forest at Horta, some undefined humps at RKD) and the tree on the right border. Looking at the figues in detail, the RKD ones are less precise, more schematic and caricatural. Perhaps this is due to a restoration and a better picture, but I think the Horta version is simply a better version (it is not unusual with the Franckens to find very, very close copies).

 

(All the images can be rightclicked to see more detail, and both Horta and RKD allow for viewing these in greater resolution on their sites as well). 

The quality of the work for sale, the detail and finesse in the drawing and colouring, are way better than the usual School of Francken works we get at auction (and they have produced a massive amount of works over the decades!). I would estimate it way above the auction house, at 60,000 to 80,000 Euro.

UPDATE: sold for 48,000 Euro! I wasn't alone in seeing quality here.

Frans Francken II

For sale at Prunier, lot 118, 15 February 2015: a "Banquet" scene attributed to Frans Francken II. Estimated at 4,000 to 5,000 Euro. The same lot was sold in December 2012 at Alde for 2,200 Euro as "Circle of Frans Francken I". Someone hopes, rightly or wrongly, to make a nice profit by providing a more precise attribution, and probably after having cleaned the picture (it certainly looks brighter now).  I would personally not attribute it to Francken, it isn't good enough in nearly all aspects. Not that Frans Francken II the best of painters is, but even for him this seems too awkward in pose.