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 sculptures 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 would 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.)

"17th century painter" is copy after Balthasar van den Bossche

Von Zengen, from Germany, sells on 18 March 2017 a "17th century painter" Visit from a polish King to the workshop of sculptor Giambologna, estimated at 1,200 Euro.

It is a copy after a 1701 painting by Balthasar van den Bossche (1681-1715 so not 17th century), and the original says nothing about either Poland or Giambologna; but the clothes of the inspecting buyer indicate Eastern Europe, and many of these works contain copies of works by Giambologna. Van den Bossche was rather prolific and popular, and his works were often copied. The copy has the same dimensions as the original.

It wasn't very hard to guess the original artist, as such sculptor workshops are typical for him; but it was made even easier because the auction house showed a label with the title of the work (which indeed references a Polish prince), which had a handwritten note "B. vd Bosch"...

While Van den Bossche is far from the best painter, the work for sale is on closer inspection clearly inferior. It should struggle to reach 1,000 Euro. For a good Van den Bossche you'll need to pay 3,000 to 5,000 Euro, but the difference quality is quite striking.

UPDATE: the description has been changed on 10 March to "Attributed to Balthasar van den Bossche".

"Dutch School" is a Balthasar van den Bossche

Ansorena from Madrid sells on 20 May 2015 a "Dutch School, 17th or 18th century" painting of "The Collector", estimated at 3,000 Euro. It carries an old and obviously incorrect Gerrit Dou attribution, as indicated by the auction house.

Not for the first time, this is probably a painting by Balthasar van den Bossche, a very prolific one trick pony who is largely forgotten and whose works don't fetch a lot of money (around 5,000 Euro usually), despite being very decorative. I already posted about a similar work here. The painting shown here not only has the same general look and theme, it also has the exact same celestial globe on the right.

Balthasar Van den Bossche

At Meeting Art, an Italian auction house with a somewhat strange name, they sell on 25 April 2015 a "18th century painter" depiction of a sculptor's studio, estimated at 5,000 Euro.

The work is by (or very close by) Balthasar Van den Bossche, a Flemish painter who often painted the same subject in a very similar style (though with ever changing compositions). His paintings don't fetch a lot of money, so having a perhaps correct attribution for this painting doesn't really influence the valuation...

And in a curious coincidence,  Piers Motley, from Devon, sell on 27 April 2015 a "18th century Dutch School" work showing the "School of Art", which is clearly a copy after or close follower of Balthasar Van den Bossche as well. Estimated at £2,000 to £3,000, which seems rather high for a lesser copy (I certainly would prefer the first one I showed, even at double the estimate). Perhaps it's just a Van den Bossche on a bad day, and not a copy, but it still is an inferior work.

It is very close to the above better work by Van den Bossche, sold by Dorotheum in 2010 for 19,000 Euro (together with another work, so price for this work alone is obviously lower!).

Original by Hendrik Govaerts or Balthasar Van den Bossche

Sometimes even the weakest painting can lead to interesting quests. The above, a visit to the atelier of a painter, is a very poor work but clearly derived from a better one. This one is for sale at Ginhart and is rather overpriced at 1,500 Euro.

It is situated in the circle of Balthasar Van den Bossche. The above painting has been attributed to Van den Bossche, so this link seems obvious: even though different in many details, it is clear that the one for sale here has taken the central part (the painter, the painting, the two watchers) directly from this painting. Unless...

this painting, attributed to Hendrik Govaerts (which looks to be the exact same painting, but either cleaned or with different lighting), is the real origin!