"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. 

Another version of the Flemish Charity (now without text); follower of Anthonie Palamedesz

In May 2016, I posted about a Flemish Charity, an interesting work (mainly because of the texts on it) which turned out to be a common theme of the grandparents living in poverty and being rejected by their children in favur of their grandchildren (and their own luxurious life); this is commonly described as "Poor parents, Rich children" in the literature.

Another version, this time without the texts, is now available on 17 January 2017 at Nice enchères, in France, without an estimate.

It looks to be a copy after a better painting, so should probably be worth 500 Euro at most. But it's interesting to get another example, and to note that this story was well known enough in its time to exist without the explanatory panels as well. 

The work seems to be based on a composition by Anthonie Palamedesz. The RKD lists one possible original, and one clear copy of comparable quality to the one for sale here.

When researching this one, I also found an engraving of a painting I showed in my previous blog post about this. It is attributed to Claes Jansz. Visscher II (1612-1652), after Vinckboons. It has a long accompanying text, which I'm not going to transcribe and translate now, as it is in Latin.

This again led me to another image by Visscher, from the Rijksmuseum.

And finally to the above by Jacob de Gheyn II, which turns out to be the basis for my mystery composition from the first blog post, but with some bits added and made clearer (e.g. the old man on the left turns out to be Death). The Text (in Dutch) is different on both works. The engraving sadly doesn't note the original painter...

"Follower of Pieter Codde" is copy after Anthonie Palamedesz

Ader, from France, sells on 24 June 2016 a "Dutch School, 18th century, follower of Pieter Codde" maternity visit, estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 Euro.

It is a partial copy of a work by Anthonie Palamedesz from the Geneva Art Museum, from ca. 1640 (found at RKD). The only saving grace seems to be the subject, which is of course attaractive; otherwise it would be hard-pressed to reach the estimate as a rather poor painting.

"School of Nicolaes Eliasz Pickenoy" is probably by Anthonie Palamedesz

Deutsch, from Austria, sell on 24 November (in an auction I have already posted on a few times) a "School of Nicolaes Eliasz Pickenoy (1588-1655)" Portrait of a gentleman, estimated at  400 to 800 Euro.

It is almost certainly the same painting that was sold at Pierre Bergé in 2009 as "Anthonie Palamedesz", Portrait of Anthonij Pietersz van Bronckhorst, with a long provenance. It fetched 2,500 Euro at the time. Sadly, since then it has suffered very serious damage, which explains the low estimate but not the lack of provenance or correct attribution.

The RKD also shows the pendant of the painting, which were kept together across many auctions before finally being separated after more than 300 years (rather sad, that).

While there are copies known of both paintings, none have the same quality (and dimensions) as in this case. How the attribution, subject, and provenance were lost (or why the auction house or owner decided not to note these) is not clear. What the actual value is of a painting which fetched 2,500 Euro before but is now heavily damaged (though luckily mainly in the background parts) is hard to tell. It should be worth between 500 and 1,000 Euro probably, if one goes with the (very low) price achieved in 2009. UPDATE: sold for 2,000 Euro.

New attributions are always possible of course, but it is nearly certain not to be by Pickenoy, as the painting was dated 1660 and Pickenoy died in 1655.

A sleeper Palamedesz?

At Plückbaum, an auction house in Bonn, Germany, they sell a Dutch 17th century master, "Couple riding horses in landscape", 158 by 130 cm, estimated at 2,200 Euro.

The same composition, but a lot smaller (41 by 32 cm) and much more sketchy, was for sale at Christie's in 2005 (unsold, estimated £1,200 to £1,800). That one was said to be by Palamedes Palamedesz, a Dutch painter from about 1607-1638.

I can't find no paintings comparable to the one for sale from Palamedesz, most are much smaller and busier. Of course, if the composition of the small one is by Palamedesz, then the second argument is invalid. The size as well is hardly an argument to dismiss this one, it's just unusual but not unheard of to find large Palamedesz works. Then we are left with the style. The one for sale is clearly more finished, supporting the theory that  the small one was a preparation for a large work. But is "this" the final version or just a copy after the final version? The latter would also be interesting, but the former much more so obviously.

The one for sale is far from brilliant, but then again, we are talking Palamedesz here, not Van Dyck or other contemporaries. Someone with a lot more knowledge of Palamedesz should judge this. But it certainly makes this to me a lot more interesting than the usual anonymous work.