Thursday 25 October 2018

"Circle of Van Kessel" is follower of Maerten de Vos

Herbette, from France, sells on 11 November 2018 a "Flemish School, 16th century, circle of Van Kessel" Adam and Eve, or the Earthly Paradise; a large canvas (105 by 151 cm) estimated at 15,000 to 20,000 Euro.

They don't indicate which van Kessel they mean, but that's not really essential. The painting is impressive, but the Adam and Eve are oddly amateuristic compared to most of the work. This is usually the sign of a copy, and this one is no exception.

Christie's sold in 2006 a "Maerten de Vos" Garden of Eden, an even larger work (143 by 208 cm) with nearly the same composition, but clearly better executed. It fetched $132,000.

The work had been sold at Christie's in 2003 as well, and had been restored in the three years since.

There are many changes between the work of de Vos and the work for sale, e.g. the position of many animals, so it may be that the work for sale is not based on this work directly, but on another version. But the essentials are obviously the same.

The work for sale, despite its shortcomings, is impressive enough that it may fetch the lower estimate.

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