"Follower of Frans Pourbus" is a Jacob de Backer

Tajan, from France, sells on 19 June 2018 a "Flemish School, ca. 1620, follower of Frans Pourbus" Creaton of Adam and Eve, estimated at 10,000 to 15,000 Euro.

The painting is a copy after, or quite possibly another version of, a work by Jacob De Backer (1540-after 1590), a contemporary of Frans Pourbus the Elder, but who worked mainly in Antwerp. The original / alternative version can be found in the Groeningemuseum in Bruges. It has the exact same dimensions.

The quality and finish of the work is very comparable, the most striking difference is in th ecolours, mainly the red vs. pink change (due to varnish / discoloration?). The work for sale is perhaps slightly better than the Bruges version, but that may be due to condition and not indicative of a different artist.

Another version, this time correctly attributed to De Backer (but oh so slightly less well painted) was offered at Hampel in 2008 for 28,000 Euro, but didn't sell.

10,000 Euro seems relatively cheap for a good Jacob De Backer.

UPDATE: the work is now for sale at Dorotheum (23 October 2018) as by Jacob de Backer (with a confirmed attribution!), with an estimate of 30,000 to 40,000 Euro. The description repeats much of what I said in the above post (not copying my work, but confirming it, which is good for my ego). The link to the Dorotheum version was given to me by a regular reader, thanks.