A Pieter Bruegel tapestry?

Heritage auctions, from the US, sells on 18 December 2015 a "Flemish Baroque tapestry, after Pieter Bruegel, 17th Century" estimated at at least $5,000.

I am not aware of any old tapestry after or designed by Bruegel, nor of any Bruegel drawing or painting depicting this scene, so (assuming my search was somewhat comprehensive) this would be a major find, and the estimate an absolute bargain.

However, nothing in the style of the tapestry remind sme of Bruegel. The design looks to be the right period, with some details which can be found somewhat similar in works by one of the Bruegels (like the pan holding the blood of the boar), but e.g. this detail can also be found in a miniature by Simon Bening.

The design is awkward in details, it looks somehow "off", not consistent enough for what should have been a major work. Is it a later pastiche? My gut feeling says "yes", but I'm no tapestry expert. Calling this "after Pieter Bruegel" seems to be completely wrong though, and I would need strong evidence to change my mind.

Value of it: if it is 17th century, it should be worth more than the estimate, as tapestries of this size aren't an everyday occurrence. If it is 19th century or so, then the work put into it should be worth something, but no artistic value should be given to it. And if it is indeed somehow after Bruegel, there is no way you can have this for less than $100,000.

Vive la liberté!

Due to the events in Paris, I'm not really in the mood to spend a lot of time on this blog this week.

No matter how hard they test us, we should never cease having fun and enjoying ourselves. Liberté, egalité, fraternité, and the pursuit of happiness. Enjoy art, enjoy music, enjoy company, enjoy humour, embrace diversity. Help each other, love each other, love yourself. Stop the hate.

Fake Cranach again for sale at Jackson's

Beware: a "Follower of Cranach" which is actually a German fake is again for sale at Jackson's auctioneers tomorrow 17 November 2015. It was sold in June at the same auction house for $3,500 (and sold in November 2014 as well, quite a hot potato work)

I discussed this picture, with evidence of why I call it a fake, in an earlier blog post. I also alerted the auction house through Twitter at the time (and again now), so they should know by now...

UPDATE: sold for $5,500 this time, probably by someone not reading this blog...

Flemish School "Adoration of the Magi"

Auctionata, from Germany, sells on 28 November a "Flemish School, 17th century" Adoration of the Magi, estimated at 3,600 Euro.

A very similar composition, but in a more "primitive" version, was sold at Lempertz (also from Germany) in 2009 for 7,200 Euro. It is a bit strange to see the better version at a much lower estimate, but the art world is often hard to follow in this regard.

The work seems to be inspired by the likes of Denys Calvaert and David Teniers I, but I haven't found any direct match so far. Still, the estimate seems low for a well-painted early Flemish Baroque work of this quality.

Flemish School "Rest on the Flight"

Loeckx, Belgian auction house, sells on 24 November 2015 as lot 337 a "Flemish School, 16th century" Rest on the Flight to Egypt, estimated at 15,000 to 20,000 Euro.

The same composition, but in a horizontal version, is listed at RKD as "Anonymous Antwerp Manierist or manner of the Master of the Antwerp Adoration". I actually prefer the one for sale, but that may be due to condition issues.

The composition and style go back to older Flemish models, more specifically by Gerard David and Joachim Patinier (apart from the central figures, one can compare e.g. the basket in the RKD version and in the pictured Patinier version (bottom)).

I haven't found a closer example and can't pinpoint a possible painter for the version for sale, but it is a very nice 16th century Flemish (Bruges?) painting, and should be worth its estimate.

"Continental School" may be work by Hippolyte Pierre Delanoy

Jackson's, from Iowa, sells on 17 November 2015 a "Continental School, 19th cenury" still life, estimated at $400 to $600 (lot 367).

The topic and style remind me strongly of the work of Hippolyte Pierre Delanoy (1849-1899), a lesser known French painter whose still lifes used some of the same elements as in this work, e.g. the peacock feathers, the book, religious imagery, and the attention to detail and depiction of metal objects. If it is by Delanoy, it should fetch about ten times the estimate. Even as an anonymous work, the estimation is fairly conservative for what is an attractive academical work.

UPDATE: sold for $425, someone may have gotten a bargain (or I was again way too optimistic).

"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.

"Venetian School" is copy after Lambert Sustris

Deutsch sells on November 2015 a "Venetian School, 17th/18th century" Baptism of Christ, a large canvas (116 by 155cm) estimated at 1,600 to 3,500 Euro (quite a wide range, that).

It is in fact a good copy after Lambert Sustris (1520-1584), a work now in the Prado.Like with many Sustris works, it used to attributed to Christoph Schwartz instead. I don't think the work for sale is an original, it is a bit too stiff, too much following the original and not enough evidence of a talent comparable to Sustris, but if so it is a very good copy. As an original, it would be worth considerably more; as a good copy, the bottom estimate is way too low, and even the top estimate seems still too low for such a large work. I would be amazed if this didn't fetch at least 5,000 Euro, and considering the chance that it is a sleeper, it might go way beyond that.

UPDATE: sold for 4,000 Euro, above the highest estimate but still below mine.

UPDATE 2: now for sale at Christie's South Kensington (28 April 2016) described as follower of Pauwels Franck and estimated at £12,000 to £18,000! So my guess that this was worth more than 5,000 Euro seems to have been validated. Strange that they still don't reference Lambert Sustris though, the link is quite obvious and my blog quite visible :-) 

UPDATE 3: not sold apparently, can't find it in the results.

Another Largillière portrait at Rops

Rops, Belgian auction house, sells on 8 November 2015 a "French, 18th century" portrait of a man, estimated at 2,600 to 3,300 Euro.

They sold another portrait in the same style and with a similar estimate (but with a lot of damage) in August 2015, as I noted in this blog post. This one is in much better condition, and in my opinion better painted as well. It should fetch a lot more than the estimate in my view.

The effortless brilliance of the clothing, the psychology in the look, the casual chic composition, all point to a master portrait artist. 

It lacks some of the masterful flesh painting one can see in the best Largillière works, but it certainly looks like an average work by him to me. Of course, connoisseurs who better know his typical quirks and stylistic elements may well find good reasons to attribute it not to him but to another high-quality portrait painter of the period, but this work is in any case a very good example of this typical style and time. It should easily surpass the estimates.

UPDATE: sold for 2,600 Euro (bottom estimate), my view was too optimistic clearly!

"Dutch School" is copy after Frans Francken II

Simpson Galleries, from Texas, sell on 8 November 2015 a "Dutch School, 17th century (dated 1672)" Flagellation of Christ, estimated at $400 to $600.

It is a copy after a Frans Francken II work sold by Bonham's in 2012 for £5,400. The Bonham's version is clearly better painted, and if the date on the work for sale is authentic, it can't be a Francken II in any case. It isn't good enough to be attributed to one of the other known Francken's either and should be considered an anonymous Flemish work. The differences between the original and the copy may be due to a creative copier, or because there existed other currently unknown versions from the Francken workshops (which would be rather standard practice for them). It isn't the most common Francken work (and I'm always a bit suspicious if a work is unknown, but a few years after an original appears suddenly some weak old copies come on the market), so if you want to have a complete collection of Francken compositions but can't afford an original, here's your chance! It should fetch the top estimate but not much more, as it is interesting but not very well painted.

UPDATE: sold for $1,400, the one time I predict a painting will at most make its top estimate it of course more than doubles it.

"Florentine School, 17th/18th century" is Workshop of or Copy after Sebastiano del Piombo

Deutsch, from Vienna, sells on 24 November 2015 a "Florentine School, 17th/18th century" Visitation, a large canvas (150 by 148 cm) estimated at 4,000 to 6,000 Euro.

A simple search makes it clear that it is the same work as Sebastiano Del Piombo's "Visitation" from the Louvre, though with minor differences (somewhat different colours but in the same palette, a square instead of a vertical orientation which means the removal of a few elements and more importantly the addition of a few others).

Is it a workshop version or a copy? Hard to tell, the Louvre version is very effectively painted (and well composed) but visually not that hard to copy probably (for a skilled painter, not for me). Even so, the copy is apart from a few details (especially in some of the faces) very well done, perhaps a tad more linear, more drawn than the more colour-based original. It is obviously darker, but as that is an overall effect, it probably needs just a thorough cleaning (or perhaps the Louvre one is overcleaned).

Piombo (1485-1547) has often been copied, especially his Lady with the Fur, but this work seems to be missing from the common copies. There is, apart from the Louvre version, a frankly better version of the two central heads. I have no idea where it is kept, it was exhibited a few years ago though. I'll leave that one out of my comparison, or I'll start thinking that the Louvre one is a copy as well...

The central heads in the two versions are very similar. The Louvre one has much clearer colours, but that seems largely to be due to discoloured varnish or other dirt on the painting for sale.

The figure on the top right is more complete in the version for sale. The added bit doesn't look out of pace with the rest of the painting or figure. Whether that is because it is copied from a larger version, or made by the same artist, or done by a competent copyist, is up for debate.

On the left is the main difference in the face of the right woman (with open eyes and a slightly more joyful face in the Deutsch version), and again in the minor additional elements on the far left.

All in all, based purely on these pictures, I can find very little qualitative difference between the two paintings (apart from some condition issues which probably can easily be solved by cleaning). The Louvre version looks slightly better, but I can't find a good argument to dismiss this simply as a copy (nevermind a 17th/18th century Florentine School) and would consider it (lacking better scientific research nor having a thorough knowledge of Sebastiano del Piombo) as a good version from the Workshop of Del Piombo, and accordingly worth considerably more than the estimate. If more people feel the same, this is the kind of sleeper picture that may easily go to 50,000 Euro.

UPDATE: sold for 6,500 Euro, I seem to be alone with the opinion that it might have been a workshop version.