Rembrandt and Teniers

Aguttes Neuilly, from France, sells some nice works on 12 March 2019.

Lot 68 is a Jean-Jacques Pradier, estimated at 300 to 500 Euro.

It is signed, so it may well be painted by Pradier, but it is a straight copy of a typical small David Teniers, now in the Louvre.

More interesting is lot 55, a pair of "19th century Dutch school" drawings, estimated at 300 to 400 Euro. One is identified as a Rembrandt selfportrait, and the other one is a Rembrandt etching as well.

I don't know enough about Rembrandt and his drawings, but these two are very well done, and in reverse compared to the engravings. Could they be original designs or sketches for these two engravings? Highly, highly unlikely of course, but nice to ponder. They certainly were made by someone who knew how to draw, and how to turn a more static engraving in a fluid, spontaneous work.

If I were to spend 300 Euro, I would certainly prefer the two Rembrandt drawings over the Teniers painting!

A charming Jesus as a child

Aguttes Neuilly, from France, sells a nice collection of old paintings in their auction of 12 March 2019.

Lot 63 is a "Jesus in the workshop of Joseph", attributed to the workshop of Pieter Lisaert and estimated at 1,500 to 2,500 Euro. Pieter Lisaert is a follower of Francken, one of the few we know by name and who are not called Francken. A few other similar scenes are known by him, and this painting is clearly in the general style of the Franckens. It is very charming, even if it isn't the best painting.

One can compare this with two paintings found at RKD, one with a now rejected attribution to Lisaert (because they don't know which, if any, of the 4 Pieter Lisaerts may have painted it!), and one still attributed to him. All three have similar small dimensions (the one for sale is 37 by 29 cm).

The subject is unusual but not totally unheard of, as can be seen in this engraving by Theodoor Galle from the same period (found at the Rijksmuseum).

Another similar, perhaps slightly older work was sold at Bertolami for 3,600 Euro. That one was attributed to a Flemish painter active in Italy in the late 16th century.

But by far the most similar painting is this one from Wikigallery (which has a truckload of interesting images, but a regrettable lack of information on where they found them, and an ugly watermark). It is said to be "French School". The whole scene, and especially the rather close two Josephs, seem to point to some common origin, a painting or engraving I haven't found yet.

The Mary from that French School painting seems to be inspired by a Holy Family by Murillo. And the Jesus from that painting comes from an anonymous Italian 16th century engraving (found at the British Museum)! This starts to feel like following a trail of bread crumbs.

The estimated value for this one seems about right.

Tomorrow probably more from this auction!

Wendl part 2: three Old Master paintings

Wendl, from Germany, sells on 2 March 2019 a large selection of Old Master paintings, often with low estimates. This is my second (and final) selection of lots.

Lot 4065 is a typical Dutch still life with a bling bling cup and some glassware. The painting, estimated at only 240 Euro, is extremely brown, presumably actual old varnish or an attempt to make it look older and more interesting. It has a monogram PCH, as said by the auction house.

This is the monogram of Pieter Claesz (1597-1660), the most important Dutch painter of this type of still life together with Willem Claesz Heda. He is coincidentally also the father of Nicolaes Berchem (Pieter Claesz was born in Berchem, now a part of Antwerp).

The same monogram can for example be found on this work, sold at Sotheby's for £175,000! I have not yet found an explanation for the "H" in the monogram. It almost gives the impression as if he was a brother to Willem Cleasz Heda. Perhaps it was added as a reference to Haarlem, the city he worked in.

The painting isn't good enough to be by Claesz though, he was an extremely detailed and convincing painter, while the work for sale is good, but a bit simplistic in the handling of materials and the reflection of light on it.

Even so, 240 Euro is ridiculously cheap and buying it at 1,000 Euro would be a very reasonable gamble that cleaning will reveal a quite fine painting.

Lot 4320 is a view of a sculptor's studio. At first, I was going to attribute it to Balthasar van den Bossche, who is best known for these scenes (sculptor or painter workshops); but he has a small number of sculptors reappearing in nearly every work, and this one doesn't match his other works in that regard. So, an anonymous late 17th century or early 18th century work, which needs cleaning, but which is again very cheap at the estimate of 180 Euro.

Finally, lot 4336, signed P. Veen and dated 1685(?) is a depiction of John the Baptist estimated at 800 Euro. I hoped it owuld turn out to be an Otto van Veen with a misread date (perhaps 1625?), but it looks to be a P. Veen after all.

This could be a Pieter Veen (1667-1736), but if so the date is probably misread and should be 1695 or 1698 instead. The RKD shows some 10 paintings by or possibly by Veen, like the one above. Most are better than the one for sale, e.g. the hands in the offered work are very weak. The estimate for this one seems about right, but his works are rare so it is interesting to possibly add one work to his oeuvre.

UPDATE; first sold for 2,200 Euro (240 est.), the second for 1,200 Euro (180 est.), and the final for 900 Euro (800 est.)

Good lots at Wendl (part 1)

Wendl, from Germany, sells on 2 March 2019 a large selection of Old Master paintings, often with low estimates. I've selected a few that caught my eye.

Lot 3663 is a Dutch still life, ca. 1700, estimated at only 280 Euro.

It is close to the work of someone like Martinus Nellius (died 1719) or the slightly earlier Harmen Loeding (ca. 1637 - ca. 1673, example via RKD).

The lot for sale should fetch 800 to 1,000 Euro without any problems.

I have trouble finding an artist for lot 3819, but at 750 Euro it is a bargain in any case, as a late 17th or early 18th century Flemish painting, a good example of the post-Rubens, more sentimental style which is a lot less popular (and important),  but still interesting enough.

Lot 3852 is described as an "unsigned genre painting, 19th century", and estimated at 800 Euro.

It is a good but fragmentary old copy (probably 17th century) of an Adoration of the Shepherds, known from a version in the Royal Castle in Warsaw. If it had been complete, it would have been worth 1,500 to 2,000 Euro, but as it stands, the estimate is probably about right. Still, a rather incorrect description for this one.

Tomorrow: three further paintings from the same auction.

UPDATE; the first sold for 14,000 (280 est.), the second for 7,000 (750 estimate), and the third for 1,100 Euro (800 est)

Horta part 4: an unattributed version of a Frans Francken and Abraham Govaerts painting

Horta, from Belgium, sells on 25 February 2019 a "17th century Flemish School" Flight to Egypt, estimated at 3,500 to 5,000 Euro.

It is a good version of a painting by Frans Francken II and Abraham Govaerts, known from a sale at Christie's in 1995.

That version was signed FFF (Frans Francken Fecit), and this one seems to bear something resembling a signature at the rock on the right (I think I can see an F there, and then some scribbles, but they may be figments of my imagination).

This version lacks the beautiful large hat (for a while common in many Flemish and Dutch paintings), but is otherwise fairly faithful to the original. As a bonus you get a nice painting of the "Miracle of the statue" or "Miracle of the idol" (as it is more commonly known), where a "pagan" idol statue falls down when Jesus passes by. This part of the story is rarely represented in old paintings. Note the shadow of the statue, giving it a much more realistic 3D effect.

An almost identical version of this work, this time attributed only to Frans Francken II, can be found in the Uffizi (image from the RKD). The dimensions are nearly identical, but the Uffizi one is on copper, while the Horta one is said to be on panel (wood). So imagine if you buy this, you can casually drop that there are only two versions of this painting known (to me), and the other one is in the Uffizi... Impressive!

 The value seems about right, seen up close the work isn't very well painted.

UPDATE: sold for 2,800 Euro.

Two early "Saint Jerome in the wilderness" versions

Horta, from Belgium, sells on 25 February 2019 two paintings with "Saint Jerome in the wilderness".

The first is described as "Bruges School, ca. 1520" and is estimated at 5,000 to 7,000 Euro.

It is indeed very comparable to works attributed to Adriaen Isenbrant (ca. 1485-1551) or his circle. The first image is a poor reproduction of a painting from the Hamburger Kunsthalle, the second is an "attributed to" from an auction (no idea which though). The description and estimate for this one seem about right.

However, I then found one even closer match, at Karl & Faber auction house, where it is described as "Joachim Patinir".  That one was sold for 8,100 Euro. This one is clearly more of a match than the Isenbrandt ones (the left hand opening the habit, the deep "V" fold between the legs, the way the red mantle is draped over the tree...), so perhaps this one should be recategorised as "Follower of Patinir" as well?

The second is said to be "Flemish School, ca. 1600", with an estimate of 4,000 to 6,000 Euro. It seems to be older though, and looked at first closer to the works of Joachim Patinir.

The main figure turns out to be from a painting by Lucas Gassel (or a follower), known from a sale at Sotheby's in 2006 where it fetched £10,000. It also returns in an anonymous Flemish painting from the second half of the 16th century in the Museum Catharijneconvent in Utrecht (via RKD).

Strange enough, another, almost identical version was sold at Christie's in 2012, but this time as the work of Patinir!

But it also has other Patinir elements, e.g. in the remarkable altar or shrine in front of Saint Jerome. It shares many characteristics with one in a painting sold at Dorotheum in April 2018 for 31,000 Euro, and which was described as Workshop of Patinir.

The Saint Jerome by a follower of Patinir, from the Houston Museum, has also such a shrine. It also has a similar cat with nine tails (or whatever the name is for that flagellation tool).

I think that this second Saint Jerome in the auction is dated somewhat too late, and is underestimated a bit. It should be worth 6,000 to 8,000 Euro instead.

UPDATE: first one unsold, second one sold for 4,000 Euro only.

UPDATE 2: first one again for sale at Horta on 17 June 2019, with a halved estimate of 2,500 to 3,500 Euro. 

"16th century Flemish School" goes back to Robert Campin and is close to Barend van Orley

Horta, from Belgium, sells on 25 February 2019 a "16th century Flemish School" Virgin and Child, estimated at 7,500 to 10,000 Euro. They note that it has an ancient attribution to Lancelot Blondeel.

The image is based on a well-known work by Robert Campin from ca. 1420, one of the most enduring works of the early Flemish Primitive art with at least 60 old copies and variations known. The original is sadly lost, but this version from the Met gives a good idea of what it must have looked like.

The version shown here goes back to Bernard (or Barend) van Orley (1491-1542), for example this version from the Museum of Oldenburg. It has a similar altar with cloth (which functions as a carpet as well) behind Mary, and the architecture with early renaissance elements and two windows is clearly comparable as well.

Still a lot closer is the Madonna Lactans of the Museum of Cadiz, which is also attributed to Bernard van Orley (but doesn't look to be good enough). This one only differs in details (the figures at the top of the colums) and in style of execution; an "attributed to Van Orley" for the work for sale seems reasonable based on this, and the estimate is very reasonable for this work.

UPDATE: sold for 30,000 Euro!