Slow service

Normally, I do most of my work for the blog on monday evening. But a concert of Sting and Paul Simon together was more important this week, so you won't get a lot of posts this week probably. There didn't seem to many undervalued or incorrectly described interesting paintings this week anyway, and you get more than 50 posts this month, so one slow week shouldn't be too much of a bother!

After Rubens, Virgin and Child with John the Baptist

For sale on 2 April 2015 at Marambat-Malefosse in Toulouse, a painting of Jesus and John the Baptist described as "French School, 18th century" but which simply screams "Rubens" from even the tiniest picture of it. Sure enough, it is a quite decent small oil on copper copy of his Virgin and Child with John the Baptist and Saint Anne. Estimated at just 200 to 300 Euro, it seems cheap enough if you can live with the condition of the panel.

The original can be found in the National Museum of Catalonia.

Portrait of Adriaen de Witte, 1544

UPDATE: a reader alerts me that the reverse of the painting makes it clear that it is a copy made in 1925! The same reverse also indicates that the copy was made by Christiane de Préval, an accomplished painter in her own right, so it's not as if it is a worthless amateur copy, but the (probably) earliest and relatively well executed copy of an interesting portrait.

At Sylvie Dagot, in Montluçon, France, they sell a "Man with fur collar" portrait, with no indication whatsoever of school, origin, age, ... and an estimate of 300 to 500 Euro.

The painting looked distinctly Holbeinian in style (though not good enough to be a real Holbein of course), but the poor image gave me little hope of finding out more. But when zooming in, I could just read "Adriaen de Witte" in the label at the bottom of the painting.

It turns out that it is a copy / alternate version of a painting of a certain Adriaen De Witte, the original being kept in the city museum in Twente, the Netherlands. Why anyone would copy this is unclear (perhaps in the 19th century, as a painting exercise or something similar?), it seems doubtful that it was done at the time of creation. But if it is a contemporary copy, then you get a 16th century Flemish portrait of a known sitter for a bargain price. It looks to be inferior, but it clearly is dirty, so it may be that something of similar quality is lurking underneath that brownish portrait.

The RKD gives more information on the Twente portrait, including the information that the De Witte family lived in Belgium and France, increasing the chances of an old version ending up in France. This would also explain why the one for sale has a heraldic shield in the top right which is missing in the Twente version. The shield looks the same as the one of the De Wittes (with a "chevron" in the middle), so perhaps it is a copy made by the family to remember their first known ancestor (the De Wittes were for ages a family of nobility in Flanders and the north of France).

Post-auction thoughts at Hargesheimer: Moeyaert and Cittadini

Recently I said that I had placed my first bid on a painting. As the auction is now finished, I can give you the details.

It was the above portrait, for sale at Hargesheimer in Dusseldorf with an estimate of 280 Euro. Described as "Portrait of a Young Man" from a German / Flemish painter, ca. 1500, it was in fact a portrait (copy of a known type, and recognisable by his Tudor Rose pictured above) of the English king Henry VII, and worth a lot more for that reason. Sadly, I wasn't the only one that recognised this, and it turned out to be one of the star lots of the auction (relative to its estimate), finishing at 3,000 Euro instead, which was a bit more than I had bid...

As I was bidding on a painting in this auction, I didn't want to draw too much attention to it. Sadly, it had a few moderately interesting works in it which would have made nice blog posts otherwise. So, after the fact, some other works from that auction!

This work was sold as a "Birth of Christ", Flemish School of the 17th to 19th century, estimated at 1200 Euro. It looked to me like a copy after a better work, since the composition and colouring were quite accomplished but the faces and other details were rather crude (although the ox is endearing).

Some searching led me to a work attributed to the circle of Claes Cornelisz Moeyaert which was sold a few years ago. The girl in the front centre looks like she has been copied straight out of a work of Joachim Beuckelaer though. The one now for sale remained unsold.

In the same auction, there was a work by an Italian Master, 17th or 18th century, depicting "beggars seeking help at the roadside", estimated at a very reasonable 700 Euro.

It was at auction in 2010 at Hargesheimer as well as a work by Pier Francesco Cittadini "Il Milanese", depicting "Fleeing the Plague", and estimated at 1,200 Euro. Strange how in the meantime it lost its attribution, title and apparently frame. Perhaps someone bought it, researched it, and discovered that he didn't buy a bargain Cittadini but an anonymous work of decent quality but not good enough to be by Cittadini? Anyway, this one as well, just like an alarming lot of paintings in this sale, remained unsold. The only one I did post about before the sale here ended up very well though!

The leaning tower of Babel

The tower of Babel is a typical Netherlandish subject for paintings, started (I think) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and continued by a lot of others. This one is for sale at Grogan on 22 March (that's tomorrow, I try to be a bit earlier normally), and is estimated at $5,000 to $10,000. It is described as European School, 17th century, but I think we can fairly safely claim it is Flemish. UPDATE: sold for $10,000!

The closest example I could find was the above by Lucas van Valckenborgh. But the one for sale is a lot less detailed and realistic, and clearly leans to one side to boot. But it's still a nice example of a once very popular subject, and for a reasonable price.

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.

Followup on a post of 2 March: original artist found!

In a post some weeks ago, I discussed a painting where reproductions were for sale already but I couldn't find anything about the original. A reader has now sent me a link to an engraving by Sadeler after Stradanus, showing the same image.

I doubt that the painting now for sale is actually the original Stradanus painting, the quality isn't good enough and it isn't reversed compared to the engraving, but it is nice to find some more info on this, and the probable name of the painter of the original work. The copy is for sale about right now, at Hargesheimer. The confusion whether the work was Italian or Flemish is also understandable with an artist like Stradanus.

UPDATE: it sold for a whopping 9,500 Euro, against an estimate of only 1,200 Euro. Considering that it is most likely a copy after an engraving, and not an original, this seems a very steep price.