"Flemish School" is Circle of Dirck Hals

Mercier, from France, sells on 12 February 2017 a "Flemish School, 17th century" interior with merry-making company, estimated at 1,000 to 1,500 Euro. Lot 236, page 44.

It is much more likely to be a Dutch work instead of Flemish, and seems to be from the circle of Dirck Hals (1591-1656), brother of Frans Hals. He wasn't the only one to paint such scenes (some works of e.g. Hendrick Pot or Pieter Codde are quite similar), but he is the best known and most prolific in this genre.

Dirck made many of these interior scenes, but usually painted a lot better. The one for sale has a good enough composition and some aspects are done quite convincingly (the rendering of the fabrics of the clothes). But the faces are very awkward, and the anatomy is otherwise a bit lacking as well (the heads are generally too big). The painting has a distinctly unfinished look, which to modern eyes isn't a bad thing, but I'm not certain that it is really unfinished and not simply done on the cheap side.

The estimate for the work seems about right, it is charming despite its major problems; but the description could have been better.