"Dutch School" is copy after Jacob de Backer

Castor Hara Drouot, from France, sells on 9 March 2018 a "Dutch School, 17th century" Adam and Eve, estimated at 1,000 to 1,500 Euro.

It is a copy after a work I already mentioned in an earlier post, and which was sold at Dorotheum in 2016 for 54,000 Euro. While the Dorotheum version is clearly better, the price difference is still huge and getting the one for sale now for 1,000 Euro seems like quite a bargain.

UPDATE: for sale at Dorotheum on 23 October 2018 as a Jacob de Backer! Certified by Klaus Ertz, who isn't really a reliable authority any more, but still a nice upgrade from my "copy after". The work has been cleaned and is now valued at 15,000 to 20,000 Euro, which seems realistic. Of course they don't mention the provenance, which really is a lost art at auctions.

Flemish Vanity, ca. 1570

Hôtel des Ventes d'Avignon, in France, sells on 10 March 2018 a "Flemish Vanity, ca. 1570" estimated at 3,000 to 4,000 Euro.

Another version of the same composition, this time said to be ca. 1540, can be found at the RKD. Currently described as "anonymous Dutch", it has in the past been attributed to Jan van Scorel and (in 2001) to Cornelis van der Goude. The RKD version is slightly smaller but clearly better painted, in the geometric body style typical of Scorel and his circle. The one for sale is smoother, showing some sfumato (the "smoke"-like, more fluid contours and shadows on bodies best known from Leonardo).

There is a fine chance that both are based on some Italian engraving, but I haven't found that one so far. The RKD one seems clearly older, but the one for sale is interesting as well, as a still early Flemish Renaissance painting of considerable skill.

Somewhat different versions of the same basic elements can be found aplenty though, e.g. this 1525 engraving by Barthel Beham, which seems very close in some aspects (the position of the legs, the hand pointing on the skull). The meaning of these images varies, sometimes it is a "we are born to die" happy thought, sometimes it is an "amor defeats death", but those tend to show a happier child, not a contemplative or sleeping one.

The above, by Raphaël Sadeler after Marten de Vos, is from 1570 and may have inspired the date given for the work at auction. It is another "tempus fugit" (time fies), life is but a short and fragile episode cautionary tale.

I haven't yet found a likely painter for the work for sale, but it should easily be worth the estimate, even if the child isn't the most attractive-looking (a common issue with many old paintings).

Lot corrected before I could post my blog :-(

Champion-Kusel, from France, sells on 10 March 2018 a "Dutch School, ca. 1600, follower of Pietro Candido" estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 Euro.

The work was originally offered as "Flemish School, ca. 1600", and would then have made an interesting blog post. However, by the time I came around to actually writing it, the description had been improved with the information I wanted to offer. Bummer!

I have discussed the original work behind this copy(?) in May 2017, when another work incorporating elements from this one (the putti) was offered. The original version can be found in the Frans Hals Museum as by Peter de Witte (Pietro Candido).

Silence

Apologies for my long silence, I have been very busy in real life, interspersed with a fine holiday, and have had very little time to spend on auction hunting, never mind bog writing.

I did try to win the above unrecognised Francken ("early 18th century", no country or artist) by bidding double the estimate, but that still wasn't sufficient, so it seems that not everyone has taken time off from bargain hunting sadly ;-) It was apparently damaged (rubbed) over the years, but showed real skill in what remained, much better than the usual Francken ripoffs, though not at the level of a real first-hand Frans Francken probably.

I'll try to post more frequently again, but no promises as real life takes precedence over this great but time-consuming hobby.