"Flemish School ca. 1600" is weak copy after Marten De Vos

Lempertz, from Germany, sells on 21 May 2016 a "Flemish School, ca. 1600" Marriage at Cana, a large (91 by 122) work presumably from Antwerp, estimated at 8,000 to 10,000 Euro.

It is a mediocre copy (fairly detailed, but without much talent) of a work by Marten de Vos from the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal in Antwerp. The original oozes luxury, renaissance ideals, and considerable talent (though it would soon be eclipsed by the generation of Rubens). The copy isn't completely identical, so it may be based on a variation of the work, but in any case is not an original composition nor the work of a named master.

Another painting, optimistically given to Frans Francken the Elder, is also related to this composition, but somewhat more remote.

The one for sale will struggle to fetch the estimate, anything above 5,000 Euro would really surprise me.

Old Master death of a martyr has gotten me stumped. Looks like a study by a very good painter!

Auktionshaus Saarbrücken, in Germany, sells on 14 May 2016 an "Old Master" Martyrium, estimated at 1,500 Euro. The description claims it to be Italian or Dutch (working in Italy), ca. 1680, a large canvas of 206 by 140cm.

It is an intriguing, rather good composition which lacks finesse in the details. Often this points to a copy, but in this case I wonder if it isn't a final study instead, as the details seem more unfinished than lacking in talent.

I can find no finished painting matching this work, and worse, I can find no artist to match it either. I have been looking at all kinds of names, from Veronese (Saint Afra pictured above) to Tiepolo, and many have some similarities, but so far I haven't found an artist or even more defined region or period which really fits.

So I'm stumped and intrigued, but I have the feeling that the estimate for this work is way, way too low and that someone out there will have spotted this and hopes he or she is the only one to have recognised this.

The girl in the middle may offer a clue to others as to date, origin or even artist. It didn't really help me though...

Flemish School, 16th century: link with Bernard van Orley

Lamas Bolano, from Spain, sells on 28 April 2016 a "Flemish School, 16th century" small Maria Lactans (31 by 22 cm) estimated at 12,000 Euro.

The nice work reminds me of a lot of artists of the period, foremost Jan Gossaert but also some others. Looking for comparable works, I cae across another Maria Lactans by Barend (or Bernard) van Orley, from a private collection. The position of the child (legs, hands) is nearly identical; the type of cushion also is very similar. The Van Orley painting is more static, sculpturesque while the one for sale is softer, more pictural.

No idea who painted it, probably not one of the major masters but someone close. The Master of the Holy Blood has some similar works, but like Orley is more sculptural.

The estimate seems about right, but it would be nice to know more about the painter and the origin of the composition.

UPDATE: a reader alerted me to a previous auction of this work: it was sold for 5,000 Euro at Alcala Subastas (also in Spain). It has been restored since then, and looks somewhat too clear now (may simply be due to the photo of course).

"Abraham van Dieperbeeck" (sic)? Perhaps, but certainly a copy after Rubens

Cambi sells on 4 May 2016 an "Abraham van Dieperbeeck" Susanna and the Elders, a large (130 by 165cm) canvas estimated at 10,000 to 15,000 Euro.

It is said to be signed ADP (?) and dated 1589 (?), which is hard to reconcile with the dates for Abraham van Diepenbeeck: 1596-1675. One would expect that, if Van Diepenbeeck used a signature, it would be AVD or at a stretch ADB, but ADP is simply weird. I can't find another artist who easily fits that monogram either though.

The painting is an adapted copy after a famous Rubens painting of Susannah, best known from an engraving by Lucas Vorsterman but also by some copies.

This version is good in the woman and the right of the two elder men, but the other man, the fountain, and the background, are a bit strange and look to modern to me. I wouldn't dare spend 10,000 Euro on it, certainly not without more information (like close-ups of the monogram and date).

"Dutch/German painter, 17th century" is Circle of Adriaen Coorte

Kunstauktionshaus Leipzig, from Germany, sells on 30 April 2016 a "Dutch/German painter, 17th century" Still life, estimated at 360 Euro.

It is a work in the style of Adriaen Coorte (ca. 1685-1723), a Dutch still life painter most famous for his almost ethereal depictions of white asparagus. His best works fetch millions at auction.

This work is dark and damaged, so it hard to be certain what is really for sale. It most likely isn't by Coorte though: the composition is unusual for Coorte (I only know of one other work by him with a tablecloth, and none with a metal platter beneath the asparagus), and the image is just somewhat too brutal, not sophisticated enough to be a Coorte. Most of his works are signed, while this one seems to lack a signature. Of course, it may always be an early work, different from his best known style, but the more obvious conclusion is that it isn't by him but by someone from his circle.

The one thing that gives the "early work" theory some credence is this early (1685) work, courtesy of the RKD, which is the closest resemblance of any Coorte work to the one for sale.

And then I'm stumped, as there don't seem to be any "circle of Coorte" painters. A few contemporary painters created still lifes with asparagus, but none with the other typical Coorte elements included (peaches, a butterfly, gooseberries).

What's it worth? Depends on what can be done to the damage, and what can be found beneath the damage and dirt. It certainly is worth a lot more than 360 Euro, but whether it is 3,000 or 30,000 is a gamble. But whatever you pay, I think with some added cost for a restoration you'll end up with a very, very good painting.

Jacob Willemsz. Delff it ain't, but you do get an early William I of Orange (William the Silent) portrait

Pook and Pook, from the USA, sells on 22 April 2016 a Dutch portrait of a gentleman, dated 1582, and estimated at $400 to $700.

It has an old attribution on the frame for Jacob Willemsz. Delff, a Dutch portrait painter of the period, but the quality of the painting is not sufficient to maintain that attribution (larger image make the difference in quality more obvious).

It turns out to be a copy after a work by or from the circle of Dirck Barendsz, a portrait of Willem I of Orange, first Prince of the Netherlands, better known as William the Silent. It is kept in the Rijksmuseum.

The original was until now tentatively dated 1583, so perhaps through this copy we get a definitive date for it?

Without the identity of the sitter, the painting would be worth the estimate. With the royal connection, and assuming it is from roughly the same date (and not e.g. 18th century), it should be worth closer to $2,000 perhaps.

UPDATE: sold for $2,880.

Copy of two Ferdinand Bol paintings seems to prove that they belong together

Bukowski's, from Sweden, sells on 21 April 2016 an "Unknown artist, 18th century" pair of portraits, estimated at 650 Euro and currently bid at 485 Euro.

The portraits are both copies after Ferdinand Bol, but I can't find any evidence that these have been treated as a pair elsewhere, so just perhaps (based on the limited information I have access to) this lot is arthistorically important to establish the connection between these two works?

Both works were in the collection of the Pfalz, and now in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. The woman was attributed to Rembrandt based on a fake signature.

The copies are somewhat reduced, but what is the chance of someone copying two unrelated Bol paintings (one long said to be by Rembrandt), of the same dimensions and in the same collection since centuries now, bringing them together as if they were a pair, if they weren't one originally?

The RKD dates the woman c. 1648, no date is given for the man. The copy of the woman doesn't have the plumes in her hair, which only were revealed again in the 1940s and had been hidden since at least the 1780s (but perhaps a lot earlier already).

The value of these copies, as a pair, is probably not more than 1,000 Euro, but they are not a common pair to find.

UPDATE: sold for 684 euro.

Another copy after the Master of the Prodigal Son lamentation

Vanderkindere sells on 19 April 2016 an "Antwerp School, 16th century" Lamentation, estimated at 1,000 to 1,500 Euro.

It is a more mediocre but considerably cheaper version of the painting I just highlighted a few weeks ago for a sale at Hampel on 7 April 2016. Not worth more than the estimate, but it just amazes me how often such works appear in clusters (perhaps some perception bias at work here).

UPDATE:  sold for 1,900 Euro, a bit more than I expected.

UPDATE 2: again for sale, now at Mercier, France on 16 October 2016 with an estimate of 1,500 to 2,000 Euro. Seems to be cleaned a bit, but remains a mediocre version, so the chance of this exceeding the estimate is small.

UPDATE 3: and now for sale at Rops, Belgium, on 9 April 2017, again for 1,500 to 2,000 Euro. Works like this always make me wary of bidding too enthusiastic on paintings: while they may sometimes yield very nice profits, other times you simply get stuck with them and no one seems to want them even when you sell at a loss. 

When the "Italian" painting you put on the cover of your catalogue is a copy after Murillo...

Lindsay Burns, from the UK, sells on 19 April 2016 an "Italian School, 17th/18th century" Madonna and Child, a large (152 by 102) work estimated at £500 to £800. They even used it as the cover of their catalogue.

It is a beautiful work, but it is a copy of a famous work by Murillo of nearly the same dimensions, now in the Palazzo Pitti. The copy is very good (you can see a much larger picture by right-clicking the image), only the eyes of the child are a bit off-putting. The work is in such a good condition that I wonder whether it is well preserved, well restored, or, well, brand new. I see no reason to believe it is Italian though.

If it is old, then it should be worth more than the come-and-get-me estimate, a few thousand pounds probably; but I don't get why an auction house would use this work as the cover of their catalogue and fail to recognise it for what it is...

"Spanish School, 18th century" is follower of Alejandro de Loarte or Juan van der Hamen

Anteo, from Spain, sells on 14 April 2016 a "Spanish School, 18th century" still life, estimated at 900 Euro.

It is a very dark work that seems to show potential beneath the grime. The topic and manner of painting is reminiscent of the works of Alejandro de Loarte (ca. 1600-1626), who painted works in the style of Joachim de Beuckelaer, and still lifes like this one (often also with some fish included). The "floating" (actually suspended) lemons or oranges are a recurring theme in them.

Perhaps even closer are the works of Juan Van der Hamen y Leon (love that name!) (1596-1631). His works are better than the one for sale though.

There were a lot of others working in the same style in the same years, like Juan Sanchez Cotan or slightly later Juan de Zurbaran (son of the Zurbaran).


A real De Loarte would be worth some 5,000 Euro probably, a real Van der Hamen closer to 50,000; what this one is actually worth depends on what a cleaning would reveal. It can hardly be much lower than the estimate though. As for the date, I would place it closer to 1650 than the 18th century.


UPDATE: Now for sale on 29 June 2017 at Nagel, in Germany, for 7,000 Euro, still without attribution but correctly dated to the 17th century.

"Denys Calvaert" is copy after Michiel Coxie

Trionfante, from Italy, sells on 14 April 2016 a "Denys Calvaert" Ecce Homo, estimated at 4,500 to 7,500 Euro.

It is yet another copy of a painting I highlighted a few times in May 2015, and not by Denys Calvaert. While not the worst copy of this work by far, it is also not worth 4,500 Euro, perhaps closer to 2,000 or thereabouts.

"Spanish, 19th, signed Zanacols": a work by Eduardo Zamacois y Zabala?

Horta, from Brussels, sells on 18 April 2016 a "Spanish school, 19th century" work signed Zanacols, estimated at 800 to 1,200 Euro.

It looks to me as if the signature isn't Zanacols but Zamacois, for Eduardo Zamacois y Zabala (1841-1871), well-known Spanish painter despite his death aged 29. In 2006-2007 he was the subject of an exhibition at the Museum of Bilbao.

His most expensive works are finely detailed genre works, quite different from the one for sale (and with another style of signature as well). But he has also made more realistic, observational works, closer to the one here. None of these works is in such a loose, almost impressionistic style though: is this just a good sketch, a style he soon abandoned (or didn't have the time to pursue due to his death), or an indication that the work is not by Zamacois after all?

No idea, I surely like it, it is very well painted, the colouring and composition are skillfully done, not the work you would expect from a forger (or from a weaker work where someone has put the name Zamacois on).

The above is an example of his more realistic works, from a Sotheby's sale in 2008 (unsold though).

An example of a signature given on Findartistinfo.com certainly is similar to the one on the work here, but like I said, other works (certainly genuine) sometimes have a quite different signature, so... I don't have enough information to decide whether this is a real but unusual Zamaicos, or an unrelated work someone put his name on. If the former, then it certainly is cheap.

UPDATE: sold for 420 Euro only, people clearly didn't believe in it. 

Probably Flemish, ca. 1700 Christ and the Adulterous Woman: circle of Hans Jordaens?

Bolland & Marotz, Germany, sells on 30 April 2016 a "Probably Flemish Master, ca. 1700" Christ and the Adulterous Woman,  estimated at 800 Euro.

The composition can also be seen in a work attributed to Adriaen van Nieulandt, ca. 1640 (Christie's, 2002, via RKD), but the works clearly aren't from the same hand.

The pose of Christ, with the finger pointing down, seems to be a misunderstood remnant of other depictions of the story (e.g. by Pieter Aertsen and Pieter Bruegel, engraving after Bruegel shown) where he is writing down "Die sonder sonde is, werpe de eerste steen" ("He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone")

Some elements of the work for sale remind me strongly of the work of Hans Jordaens, e.g. this "Noah's Arc" and some other similar works. At other times, it reminds me of Adriaen van Stalbemt. In any case, It looks more likely to be 1640 than 1700, and is an interesting work with some very good elements, but likely after some unknown older work from around 1600. Should be worth 800 Euro any day, and may well fetch 2,000 Euro.

UPDATE: sold for only 720 Euro. 

Moussa Diouf (1939-1982), one of the godfathers of Congolese and Zambian art

Rops, from Belgium, sells on 17 April 2016 a "Moussa Diouf" signed work, estimated at 140 to 200 Euro.

It is a work from the 1970s (it is dated, but I can't see whether it is 1970 ir 1976) in the typical style of Diouf. At first, I could find very little information about him or images of his work though, but what there is shows that he is a major name in the early Congolese and Zambian painting scenes, and as such deserves more recognition.

Then I found this book by Bennetta Jules-Rosette online, and I finally got some background on the man. In brief: born in Kinshasa, then in Belgian Congo, on 24 October 1939. Worked a few years as an illustrator for UNESCO before becoming an independent painter. Illustrated the Congolese pavillion at the Montreal 1967 Expo. Became a teacher at the Academy of Kinshasa. Got further government recognition in 1970.

Left Congo because of the censorship and went to live in the slums of Lusaka, Zambia in 1974. Became there the founder and main man of the Kanyama circle of artists. Made his living by sellingsimple art to tourists at the airport and in the city, but signed these works "Muntu". Works signed Diouf or Moussa Diouf were his personal, serious art.

He returned to Congo in 1979 and again worked in Zambia by 1982, this time settling in Kitwe, where he died in June of the same year.

The book states that he introduced (among his circle) the palette knife in 1976. If so, then it seems not unlikely that the painting is indeed dated 1976 and that this is one of his first works in that style.

The Museum for Middle Africa of Tervuren has three of his works, at least one of those was displayed in their exhibition on modern art from Lubumbashi.

What's it worth? It "should" be worth at least in the low thousands, being a good work by an important modern artist (for Congolese and Zambian art at least). It's the kind of artist and work that may soar in a decade, when the country gets more stable and rich locals want to collect their own art (a process seen in many other countries already). But it may just as well take a lot longer, or he can be, in the art history writing that still needs to be done, become an also-ran, of some importance but not major, and never fetch high prices.

You definitely can't go wrong at the estimated price though.

UPDATE: strange, the picture is missing from the Rops results, which are normally fairly complete. perhaps it still needs to be added...

UPDATE 2: again for sale in their next auction, 22 May 2016, so either unsold or sold but unpaid.

UPDATE 3: now sold for 160 Euro, which in the long run will probably be a bargain (certainly if Zaire ever gets stable and more prosperous).

"Old master, ca. 1600" is copy after Bonifazio Veronese

Bolland & Marotz, from Bremen, sell on 30 April 2016 an "Old Master, ca. 1600" Saint Anthony preaching from the walnut tree, an unusual subject estimated at 4,000 Euro.

It is a (probably much later) copy of a work by Bonifazio Veronese from the "Santuario del Noce" in Padua, ca. 1530. This explains why it looks good as a whole, but is lacking in the details like faces and so on. I don't think it is worth the estimate and would be surprised if anyone was willing to spend more than 2,000 Euro on this.

UPDATE: sold for 3,200€, between my estimate and that of the auction house...

Late 18th century "perhaps a self-portrait" is copy after Rubens' Faun and Nymph

Bolland & Marotz, from Germany, sells on 30 April 2016 a "Probably late 18th century painter" Faun with Girl, estimated at 1,500 Euro, which "can be a self-portrait of the painter".

Probably (hopefully!) not, it is a good copy of Rubens' "Faun and Nymph" (the above Workshop version from the very nice Museum Mayer Van den Bergh in Antwerp, the probable original is in Vienna).

It probably is worth the estimate regardless of the description, as it is a well-painted, attractive work. Not good enough to be a Workshop version, sadly.

UPDATE: sold for 1,250 Euro.

"Circle of Adriaen Isenbrandt" is nice copy after Pieter Coecke

Leo Spik, from Berlin, sells on 14 April a "Circle of Adriaen Isenbrandt" Adoration of the Magi, estimated at 4,000 Euro.

The in parts heavily damaged panel is actually a copy after or workshop work of Pieter Coecke van Aalst. Only the position of the head of the kneeling King in the front has been changed; perhaps this is the portrait of the donor?

The style of some aspects of the work is quite different though. The head of the Virgin is much more in a Leonardesque sfumato-inspired style, and not the typical more Primitive Coecke style.

The work for sale should be worth a bit more than the estimate, but the damage will prevent it from really getting beyond 10,000 Euro probably.