"Niccolo di Buonaccorso and workshop" is a follower of the Master of San Jacopo a Mucciana

Roquigny, from France, sells on 1 January 2019 a "Niccolo di Buonaccorso and his workshop" Virgin and Child triptych, estimated at 15,000 to 25,000 Euro.

The more detailed full description makes it clear that they don't believe it to be actually a work by Niccolo di Buonaccorso, but perhaps by a collaborator or pupil, which is not really the same as the short description made us believe. They also mention other artists like the Master of the Pieta, Paolo di Giovanni Fei, and Francesco di Vanuccio, and make it clear that the triptych must be placed in Siena.

An artist they don't mention though is the Master of San Jacopo a Mucciana, a Florentine (not Sienese) master active around 1390-1420. He has painted the almost same composition, not some similar work like the Buonaccorso shown above.

This work, from a private collection in Italy (two images from Fondazione Zeri), is dated to the end of the 14th century, and is very close to the one for sale in many respects, much more so than the Buonaccorso.

The stipple effect in the clothing, the strange position of the Christ child, the general posture of the Virgin (central and in the annunciation), the decoration in the gold leaf paint... All this makes it clear that either the work for sale is a copy after the Master of San Jacopo a Mucciana, or both are based on the same work. The work for sale doesn't seem to be good enough to be directly by the Master of San Jacopo a Mucciana, but the condition isn't good enough to really judge this.

Some elements which differ between the two paintings seem to be taken from other works by the same Master: e.g. both the clothing of the virgin (the neckline), the hand position and the flower in it (very vague in the work for sale), and the child with a scroll and an orb, are taken from a Virgin and Child from the Museo di Santa Verdiana  in Castelfiorentino.

An interesting work in any case, it may be worth the estimate, but it probably has not got the right attribution.

UPDATE: sold for 58,000 Euro instead!

Overpriced, misattributed, misdescribed, but interesting anyway!

Marques dos Santos, from Portugal, sells on 13 December an "Attributed to Maerten de Vos" Coronation of the Virgin, estimated at 15,000 to 20,000 Euro.

The description goes on to state "in the center the Virgin, the Holy Trinity and Pope Sixtus VI, view of Antwerp in the background". The figure they claim to be Sixtus VI is God the Father, and the city one can view at the bottom is unidentified, but definitely not Antwerp.

The painting also has little to do with Maerten de Vos, his style is quite different, and better. Which brings me to the valuation, which seems very high for an iconographically very interesting work, but with little artistic value.

It is an extremely unusual version of the Coronation of the Virgin, which usually comes in two flavours; either Christ and God the Father are each to a side, and Mary is inbetween them, and they both are crowning her together. Or else you only get Mary and Christ side by side (the former seems to have been used more since the time of the Reformation, giving even more "credibility" to the status of Mary; the latter was mainly used in older depictions of the scene). But I have never seen one with a triple (though asymmetrical) throne with Mary on the side. It seems to be an effort, probably at the time of the Reformation and the Contrareformation, to get things doctrinally exactly right; getting such things wrong in those years could have very bad results for you...

"Dutch mannerist, ca. 1600" is copy after Marten de Vos

Hampel, from Germany, sells on 6 December 2018 a "Dutch Mannerist, ca. 1600" Family image of Christ, a small (21 by 27 cm) oil on copper estimated at 6,000 to 8,000 Euro.

I always have trouble remembering what the common name for this image is, but some searching refreshed my memory: the "Holy Kinship" or the "Kinship of the Virgin".

The description of this work indicates that it has an attribution to Goltzius, and the auctioneer sees some similarities with the work of Cornelis de Vos. I see no similarities at all with his work though, I guess the auctioneer just pointed to the wrong de Vos. Cornelis (1584-1651) is a typical, very good Baroque painter in the style of Rubens and the like, best known for his beautiful family portraits and portraits of children. Maerten de Vos (1532-1603) (no family of Cornelis) is two generations removed from Cornelis, and paints in a completely different tradition and style, initially close to Frans Floris, later in a more individual, modern style.

And sure enough, the work for sale is a rather run-of-the-mill copy after Maerten de Vos, a very good work by him from the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent, there titled the "Family of Saint Anne". It's a large oil on canvass, 135 by 170 cm, from 1585, so quite different from the copy here.

I doubt this work will fetch the estimate, if people realise that it simply is a copy (or just look at the lack of quality of course).

Unusual Adoration of the Magi by "Flemish Master" is close to Jan van Scorel

Dr. Eder, From Germany, sells on 8 December 2018 a "Flemish Master, ca. 1550" Adoration of the magi, estimated at 3,500 Euro.

The relatively large work (113 by 98cm) has a striking, unusual composition, quite remote from other Flemish or Dutch works from the same period.

A very similar work was sold at Lempertz in 2015 as "Studio of Jan van Scorel". Smaller but better, it sold for nearly 40,000 Euro. Other versions can be found in the Utrecht Museum and National Gallery of Ireland.

While the Utrecht version has the same ruin as the Lempertz one, the Ireland version has the ruin we can also see in the work for sale. Other elements here are also a lot closer to the Eder version.

Strange enough, the work for sale was at Lempertz just a few months ago, with an estimate of 8,000 to 10,000 Euro. Why the auction house now omits the attribution ("manner of Scorel") is not really clear.

The version for sale is clearly less well executed and is probably not good enough to be called a workshop copy, but it is an interesting, good work anyway, and should easily fetch the estimate.

"Late 16th c. Adoration" is copy after Raphaël

Carlo Bonte, from Belgium, sells on 11 December 2018 a "Posibly French late 16th century" Adoration of the Shepherds, estimated at 1,000 to 1,500 Euro.

At first I thought it maight be the work of Jost de Laval, a probably Flemish painter who worked a long time, until his death in 1578, in Lübeck, but in the 1550s worked in Bruges (where the auction is). Certainly that second one (found through RKD) has many of the same elements (from the depiction of God over the use of a wooden, derelict construction inside a ruinous old temple, to the arrival of the shepherd with a reluctant dog, left in the work for sale and right in the RKD one), and a similar awkward style.

But a much closer match was another work I found at RKD, a "Follower of Lambert Lombard" from the Lindenau Museum in Altenburg, and from a similar date as the Laval ones (which would date this work somewhat earlier than the auction house thinks). The works clearly share the same origin, even though the background on the right is totally different.

It turns out that both works are copies after Raphael, through an engraving published by Hieronymus Cock in 1563 (found at the Rijksmuseum). The work for sale is a much more faithful reproduction of the engraving than the Lombard version.

The work probably is only worth the estimate, but it is a good enough old Flemish copy of a Raphael to be interesting.

"Late 17th century" is copy after lost Carracci

Carlo Bonte, from Belgium, sells on 11 December 2018 a "Late 17th century" portrait of Christ, estimated at 1,500 to 2,500 Euro.

It is a fairly good copy after Annibale Carracci, his now lost (presumably destroyed in WWII) head of Christ from the Dresden Museum. It probably isn't worth much more than the estimate, but copies after lost works are always interesting, and linking such an anonymous work with obvious quality to a known work is what this blog often is about, so... The work for sale has the same dimensions as the original, and probably the same colours, but it is less convincing (which may be improved by cleaning it), and painted on canvas instead of on copper, as the original was.

"Ca. 1900 Flemish work" is original by or good copy after Josef Janssens

Carlo Bonte, from Belgium, sells on 11 December 2018 a "Late 19th - Early 20th century, in the manner of the Flemish Primitives" Golgotha, a large work (108 by 137 cm) estimated at 600 to 1,000 Euro.

The work is a version of the Crucifixion by Josef Janssens de Varebeke (1854-1930), a religious painter working in a Neogothical style. He painted many portraits, but probably his most famous work is his "Our Lady of Sorrows" cycle in the Antwerp Cathedral. This series of seven works includes the original Crucixifion by Janssens.

The work for sale has more subdued colours, and harsher lines, making it look more modern, a move away from the Flemish Primitives and more pointing towards Flemish Expressionism. The removal of the halo's also gives it a less traditional, religious effect, and more a general image of mourning and loss.

It's hard to tell if this is a later version by Janssens, or a copy by a good artist. The estimate seems too low in either case, a copy of this quality should be worth 2,000 Euro, and an original by Janssens of his major work is probably closer to 10,000 Euro.

"17th century Flemish School" is Italian, after Carracci

Minerva, from Italy, sells on 27 November a "Flemish School, 17th century" Deposition of Christ, a small oil on copper (24 by 34 cm) estimated at 1,500 to 2,500 Euro.

The work looks much more Italian than Flemish, e.g. the much cooler colours (which is in a way remarkable, one would associate Northern countries with cooler, more subdued and greyish colours, and the more Southern countries with more flamboyant, lively colours: but at least in the 17th century, the opposite is often true) or the way shadows are painted.

And sure enough, this Lamentation (more so than a Desposition) turns out to be a copy after an 1598 engraving by Annibale Carracci (engraved by his brother Agostino).

The painting isn't completely identical, especially the head of Saint John is situated lower, while the head of the woman (another Mary probably) supporting the Virgin is somewhat further away than in the engraving: so it may be based on another version of the original, and not on this engraving. but in any case it isn't an original, it is a good copy but some elements (e.g. the hand of the Virgin) is just not good enough by far to be by Carracci. Many other elements, like the folds in the clothing or the texture of skins, isn't good enough either. Of course, the painting is small, making it harder to get these things right probably.

Nevertheless, this is a good painting, probably 17th century, and should fetch the estimate without much problems. But for collectors of Flemish paintings it has little or no interest.

Protector of birds

Leland Little, from the United States, sells on 1 December 2018 a "17th century Flemish" still life with cat, estimated at $1,000 to $3,000.

It is a rather dark work, which seems partially intentional and partially due to age and dirt. The exact quality is therefor hard to judge, but it seems to be a work in the vein of some well-known artists, but probably not good enough to be by them. Still, it should easily fetch the estimate as it is a good, intriguing work with the cat lurking in the back looking directly at the viewer.

While there are many, many Flemish still lifes with cats (e.g. the works of Clara Peeters), this version is close to the work of some very specific painters: Carstian Luyckx, Alexander Adriaenssen, and David de Coninck. But none have the full frontal, very dark look of this one.

UPDATE: sold for $1,700.

Female painters still underrated it seems: Louise de Hem

Legros, from Belgium, sells on 29 November 2018 a "Louise de Hem" still life, estimated at 200 to 250 Euro.

This is a ridiculously low price, compared to what her work already sold for, and the significantly increased attention (and corresponding market) for good pre-20th century women artists. And she is universally acknowledged as one of the very good ones: in the 2002 book by Spanish Jordi Vigue, "Great Women Masters of Art", she gets her own 4 page entry right between similar entries for Suzanne Valadon and Käthe Kollwitz!

Louise de Hem (1866-1922) was a painter from Ieper (Ypres). Her brother-in-law was a painter, and encouraged her to go for a similar career. Due to the severe restrictions against women artists in Belgium at the time (e;g. no nude painting, no access to academies), she moved to Paris, where she soon exhibited at the salons, with considerable success. She specialized in two areas: artisticratic, luxurious portraits, in the style of her teacher Alfred Stevens, and still lifes harking back to 17th century examples of Heda and the like, but somewhat more monochrome.

The success of her art allowed  her to build a large Art Nouveau house with workshop in Vorst (or Forest, part of Brussels) in 1902-1905. In 1911 she was even knighted.

Some of her works from the Ieper Museum can be seen on the Cultured wiki.

Her 1890 self portrait shows a confident woman, in a work which has influences of Symbolism and especially from photography, it seems.

Her 1892 "Peasant Girl" from the Ieper Museum is a forerunner of the Belgian Luminism of Emile Claus, and a beautiful work in its own right.

Later portraits are more stylized and commercial, but still show great technical skill and are very alluring. For her 1904 work "The Japanese Doll" she got a Golden Medal at the Salon.

She was also a master of the pastel technique, as seen in this 1901 "Gitane" and 1902 "The Black Cat".

Her portraits rarely come on the market, her still lifes are slightly more common, but even so Artvalue only lists 5 sales this century. Much of her work is in the Museum of Ieper: it was largely destroyed during the first World War (which also meant the end of the active career of De Hem), and in 1927 45 of her works were donated to the museum by her sister Hélène.

A similar (though more cleanly finished) work was sold at Christie's in 2013 for £3,250.

Another, considerably larger still life was sold at Horta (Belgium) in 2012 for 2,600 Euro.

Her portraits, when they do come on the market, fetch even higher prices: one large pastel sold in 2008 for 5,200 Euro, and a "Retour de Bal" sold in 2016 for 10,500 Euro at Bernaerts.

The one for sale here should be worth at least 1,500 Euro, and considering the increased market for women artists it will get harder and harder to buy a good work by her for such a price.

UPDATE: sold for 750 Euro.