Nice collection at Galerie Moderne (part 1)

Galerie Moderne, from Belgium, sells on 14 November 2017 an interesting selection of paintings, in a rather old-fashioned way: apart from their regular selection, they sell the "Collection of Tables of Madame D." which is something one often finds in older auction catalogues but seemed to have fallen into disuse recently (usually nowadays either the works are fully anonymous, or the collector is named).

The collection includes some interesting works, and since the auctioneer hasn't done much beyond either copying the label from the frame, or calling it an anonymous work, they provide an excellent opportunity for one or more blog posts.

Lot 201, the most expensive at 12,000 to 15,000 Euro, is "The discovery", described as "anonymous 17th century". This large square (125 by 125 cm) is an attractive work, full of pathos: to me, it looks Italian, and later than 17th century (18th or even 19th century). The "discovery" is perhaps the Egyptian princess finding the infant Moses in a basket, although it is unclear why the painter would then show a squid tentacle instead of the infant. I can not find other examples of the same subject, perhaps it is known as "the story of X" and hard or impossible to find if you don't know that story... No idea who the painter is either, the work is good but not brilliant. Value seems a tad high, 5,000 to 8,000 Euro seems more realistic.

UPDATE: wow, sold for 65,000 Euro instead, I misjudged this badly!

Lot 204 is an "Attributed to Frans Francken", and the frame has a label for "Frans Francken the Elder", estimated at 3,000 to 4,000 Euro.  He lived from 1542 to 1616, but the work seems slightly more modern than that, more Baroque-influenced already. It turns out to be a work by or after Simon De Vos (1603-1676), known from a few other versions.

Christie's sold another version of this Lamentation in 2014 for £26,250. That version is a finished one (of comparable dimensions), while this one is either a copy or a final sketch. I tend to think that it might be the latter, as some aspects are very well done (like the man on the right), while others (like the head of Mary Magdalen) are much more rudimentary, but still giving the impression of haste more than lack of talent. The work is also sufficiently different to support the "sketch" idea.

Some details to give an idea of the quality (top version is Christies, bottom one is work for sale).

This is a very, very pleasing work by a really good painter. It seems underestimated to me, and I would expect it to go closer to 10,000 Euro, but I am perhaps more excited about such a probable oil sketch than many others?

UPDATE: sold for 3,000 Euro, people didn't share my enthusiasm...