View of Antwerp

Bukowski's, from Sweden, sells on 12 June 2016 a "Dutch School, 18th century" view of a city with strollers, estimated at 30,000 SEK (3,250 Euro).

It is a view of the Meir, at the time the main street of Antwerp (and now the main shopping street, the second most expensive street in the Belgian version of Monopoly). The large tower in the background is the spire of the Antwerp Cathedral (the second, identical spire has never been finished). The cityscape is nearly identical to some works by Erasmus de Bie (Antwerp, 1629-1675; example from the collection of the Rockoxhuis pictured first, example sold at Sotheby's in 2002 for £35,000 second) but is not by him and, looking at the clothing, should probably be dated slightly later (early 18th century).

It isn't a good painting, artistically, but historically and culturally these views of Antwerp are important and very popular, and if some people recognise the view it should easily fetch the estimate. Better versions, e.g. by Frans de Momper (a reverse view of the Meir, example sold at Dorotheum pictured), can go for 50,000 Euro. Other painters like Alexander van Bredael also painted nearly the same view, but all are better than what is for sale here.

The most comparable version is probably the one from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, which is also anonymous and dated to the 18th century (picture via Balat).

UPDATE: not sold, highest bid was only a miserable 783 Euro. 

Copy of two Ferdinand Bol paintings seems to prove that they belong together

Bukowski's, from Sweden, sells on 21 April 2016 an "Unknown artist, 18th century" pair of portraits, estimated at 650 Euro and currently bid at 485 Euro.

The portraits are both copies after Ferdinand Bol, but I can't find any evidence that these have been treated as a pair elsewhere, so just perhaps (based on the limited information I have access to) this lot is arthistorically important to establish the connection between these two works?

Both works were in the collection of the Pfalz, and now in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. The woman was attributed to Rembrandt based on a fake signature.

The copies are somewhat reduced, but what is the chance of someone copying two unrelated Bol paintings (one long said to be by Rembrandt), of the same dimensions and in the same collection since centuries now, bringing them together as if they were a pair, if they weren't one originally?

The RKD dates the woman c. 1648, no date is given for the man. The copy of the woman doesn't have the plumes in her hair, which only were revealed again in the 1940s and had been hidden since at least the 1780s (but perhaps a lot earlier already).

The value of these copies, as a pair, is probably not more than 1,000 Euro, but they are not a common pair to find.

UPDATE: sold for 684 euro.

Vanitas with Sleeping Child is copy after Luigi Miradori

Bukowski's, from Sweden, sells on 14 September 2015 an "Old Master, Germany, 17th century" Vanitas with a sleeping child, estimated at 1,900 Euro.

No idea if this version is German or not, but it is a copy of a work by Luigi Miradori (also known as Il Genovesino), an Italian painter of the first half of the 17th century. An original version was offered at Christie's in 2006 with an estimate of £25,000 to £30,000, but failed to sell.

Another version, where the vanitas symbols were removed to make it more appealing(?), was for sale at Drouot.

A rather dark copy, attributed to the Italian School, 17th century, failed to sell at Cambi Aste with an estimate of 2,000 to 3,000 Euro.

The one for sale is more elaborate than the original versions I have seen on the net, but painted with considerably less brilliance. It is also more drawn, more line-based than colour-based. Still, it is a well-done, interesting work and should fetch 2,000 to 3,000 Euro. UPDATE: sold for 1,713 Euro, slightly below my estimate.

Utrecht Caravaggist "Judith" at Bukowski's

Bukowski's sells on 15 June an "Unknown artist, 18th century" painting of Judith, 97 by 125 cm, estimated at 1,600 Euro but at the moment already slightly surpassing that estimate. UPDATE: and it sold for more than 17,000 Euro! It racked up 58 bids. A real sleeper...

It is a very nice painting, clearly underestimated, but hard to attribute. The style is post-Caravaggio, and looks to me more like the Dutch Caravaggists than Italian, although the rather sensuous look of Judith (but without the overt eroticism of many Judith paintings) reminds me of some French painting as well.

The painting has been damaged in the past, it looks as if the varnish has been cleaned too aggressively, which may also explain why the original painting has become visible beneath the sword and sword hand. It's as if the painter originally wanted to show Judith holding the head, and decided afterwards to make it more a "flagrante delicto" scene, with the sword still in her hand.

The painter gets very nice effects by minimal pictural means, a bit like Frans Hals and some other Dutch painters of the 17th century.

If I had to place the painting somewhere, I would look at the Utrecht school of Caravaggists, someone like Hendrick ter Brugghen (his "Esau" pictured, note the old woman, and the greytone man at the right), although he is normally a more precise, less loose painter. This applies even more to Honthorst or Baburen. Ter Brugghen or Van Bijlert seem the closest in style to the painting for sale, but I doubt that either of them is the artist.

"17th century Flemish School" is copy of Raphael

Bukowski's sells on 2 June 2015 a "17th century Flemish School" transfiguration, a nice enough oil on copper estimated at 4,300 to 5,300 Euro.

No idea whether this copy is Flemish and/or 17th century (an "oil on copper" has a fair chance of being both, as it wasn't as often practices elsewhere and elsetime), but the original is by Raphael, now in the Vatican Museum. The estimate seems a tad high for this copy. UPDATE: unsold

"Unknown, probably England" is by German Christian Leberecht Vogel

Bukowski's sells on 6 May 2015 an "unknown painter, probably England, 19th century" painting of reading children, estimated at 500 Euro and with a current bid of 200 Euro.

It actually is a (copy after a?) painting by Christian Leberecht Vogel (1759-1816), a German painter showing here his two children. Apparently some 18 versions by his own hand are known, plus copies in paint and on porcelain.

The most recent sale of an original Vogel version was in October in Germany, and went for 3,000 Euro. A very nice though smaller version (pictured) was sold at Lempertz in May 2014 for 8,500 Euro.

The version for sale seems original to me, but is damaged. Still, it should be worth something like 2,000 to 3,000 Euro probably. UPDATE: sold for 704 Euro, seems cheap!

Robert Landeryou

Bukowski's sell on 21 April an Unknown Artist, signed Marine from 1898, estimated at 320 Euro and with a current high bid of 100 Euro. UPDATE: sold for 406 Euro, still cheap.

I guess they had trouble reading the signature, but it is a painting by Robert Landeryou, an obscure British painter born in 1836, date of death unknown but apparently after 1898, we may decide now. The only two other paintings by him I could find were also marines, one sold for $1,700 in 1999 and one for $4,250 in 2012. The latter one, pictured above, was larger and in better condition though. But if you like these kind of marines, or for some reason are interested in Landeryou, then this is your chance to get one cheap!

Original or Copy? Saint Anne

At Bukowski's, they sell on 16 April 2015 a "Holy Family" by an unknown artist, 18th or 19th century, estimated at 425 Euro and with a current bid of 213 Euro. UPDATE: sold for only 278 Euro.

It is in reality a Saint Anne with the child Mary, not a Holy Family (Mary as the mother with the child Jesus is never depicted this old). Searching for an artist or original version showed only a much brighter coloured painting attributed to "Francesco de Nura" (sic, probably Francesco de Mura) from Rimini. The colouring of the one for sale is much more to my taste, makes it more realistic and less sentimental, but some details in the other one seem slightly better. Perhaps they are both copies after the same superior original? Any way, the one for sale seems to be worth more than the estimate, although it has some condition issues.

Harry Friswell

At Bukowski's, they strangely sell a landscape by an "Unidentified artist", but signed H. Friswell and dated 1881. This can only be Hary P. Friswell, Suffol painter who started exhibiting his paintings in 1881 and was 6 times represented at the Royal Academy exhibitions.

Very few of his works seem to come on the market in more major auctions, and there they fetch about $1,000 to $2,000. But without really comparable paintings, it's hard to say what this one's worth. Certainly more than the highest bid of 80 Euro it has now, and probably more than the estimate of 536 Euro as well. No idea though why Bukowski's didn't make the connection between the signature and the painter, there seems to be little reason to doubt the authenticity. UPDATE: sold for 426 Euro.

Christ on Mount of Olives

A Netherlandish "Christ on the Mount of Olives" is (again) for sale at Bukowski's. Estimated at about 1,000 Euro and currently at 480 Euro, it is described as "Unknown Flemish artist, 17th or 18th century" but looks to be older, 16th century probably. In December 2014, it was for sale at Stockholms Auktionsverk (then dated to 16th century or later) and estimated at 3,200 Euro to 4,300 Euro, but failed to sell. The no-sale and changed date perhaps indicate some correct doubts about whether it is an old painting or a later copy / style of version, which would be worth less. But it is charming and unusual, and at the current estimation one can't go wrong with it. UPDATE: ended at 734 Euro, not sold.

Strange head jewellery

Some pictures are not very interesting from an aesthetic or art historial point of view, but have other interest nevertheless. This family portrait, for sale at Bukowski's with an estimate of 1,200 Euro and a current highest bid of 500 Euro, described as Baroque (style), 18th or 19th century, is fairly mediocre. UPDATE: it was not sold and has been relisted.

But what is the strange thing on or around the head of the woman? Some Star Trek inspired communication device? A medical thing? Jewellery, some strange parure? Her necklace is rather peculiar as well, with some collar on top of it apparently, but the head decoration is the most curious thing I have seen in a portrait in a while. I presume it is something they considered to be decoration, why else would you show it in your portrait (in those ages, nowadays you can find anything in portraits)?

The most likely explanation seems to be that it is some kind of "oorijzer" (ear iron), an element of Dutch traditional dress, normally meant to keep the headdress on the head and in shape (example of an oorijzer covering the ears in a 1636 portrait by Jacob Cuyp). On this portrait, the couple is shown in prayer, and this means that the headdress needs to be removed. Possibly the oorijzer was exempt from this, and only the actual headdress was removed, resulting in this unusual picture. I certainly can't find any other example of this anywhere, making this painting probably fairly interesting for institutions or people specializing in costume history and the like.

A somewhat similar element on the forehead can be seen in Rembrandt's portrait of Margaretha de Geer, in the National Gallery in London (detail pictured). But none of these portraits looks so strange as the one for sale here.

Peter Macnab

At Bukowski's, they sell a nice ca. 1900 painting, "In a hop garden", by an unknown artist. Luckily, the painting was signed, and it is clear that it is a small work by Peter Macnab, a probably Scottish artist active from the 1860 until about 1900-1910. Estimated at 300 Euro and currently only bid 40 Euro, it is a steal if you live in Sweden or can quite cheaply organise the shipping to your home address. His works, though often bigger and more finished (but perhaps for that reason less charming, this one is very direct, impressionist almost), fetch usually a few thousand pounds, and at least a few hundreds. This one should be worth close to £1,000, but the lack of attribution will make it probably fall short of this. UPDATE: sold for 98 Euro, someone got a very good bargain here!

Arthur Fischer?

At Bukowski's, 11 March 2015, they sell a portrait by an "unknown painter", signed A. Fischer, Berlin, 1918, estimated at 800 Euro and currently with a highest bid of 400 Euro. This period is normally not what I'm interested in, but the painting is of such high quality technically that I was a bit amazed that even with a signature, no name was found. UPDATE: sold for 570 Euro, cheap for what it is.

To me, it seems fairly certain that this is a work by Arthur Fischer (1872-1948) from Berlin (other, more sentimental work pictured, sold through Skinner auction house for $2,370). He was a court painter to der Kaiser, Wilhelm II, and a portrait painter for the high society of Berlin. Compared to other works I found by him online, this isn't the most seducing (an older woman and faded roses are less alluring than a young woman for most buyers; coupled with e.g. the black accents on her dress, it looks like a portrait of a mourning woman, which isn't unusual in Berlin in 1918 of course), but it is by far the best. It is damaged around the edges, it looks as if the painting used to be in a clearly smaller frame and that frame damaged the hidden parts; but otherwise it looks to be in very fine condition. But the composition, the colours, the attention to detail, are just great, a lot better than in most other works by him I found, making all price comparisons rather useless as well.

400 or even 800 Euro for a work of this size (120 by 94) and quality seems very cheap, and is probably explained by the subject and the lack of attribution to any painter. I can't help the subject, but the attribution is provided for free! 

Barbara Villiers or Catherine de Braganza?

A portrait, without indication of the subject but given as "Circle of Peter Lely", is for sale at Bukowski's, 8 February 2015, with an estimate of 3,200 Euro and a current highest bid of 2,500 Euro. (UPDATE: it sold for 5040 Euro in the end) Looking at the picture, I don't see a lot of Lely (well, every decent English portrait of that time is influenced by Lely probably), but it seems that the sitter is Barbara Villiers, who was also depicted a few times by Lely (or Studio), like the below picture from the National Gallery in Washington.

With the Lely association clear from the sitter's identity, the question becomes who the artist may have been.

The portrait for sale here is much closer to one attributed to Remigius van Leemputten, from the Royal Collection. Well, it turns out that that one is a copy after Lely after all, so "Circle of Peter Lely" seems quite correct.

But are we certain of the sitter? The above seemed pretty conclusive to me, but then I encountered Lely's portrait of Catherine de Bragança. Very similar to the Villiers one by Leemputten, but not with just the same hairdo and necklace and backdrop as the one for sale, but also the exact same dress, and nearly the same position of the hands (with a simlilar piece of cloth between them), and so on. Also from the Royal Collection, by the way. The one for sale is not an exact copy, e.g. the background is closer to the Villiers one, and the white cloth behind the sitter also covers the top of the chair in the one for sale.

So we have something between these two, and with the extreme similarity between "Barbara Villiers" and "Catherina Braganza", I don't dare to say which one is really being portrayed here (are we absolutely certain that the Braganza portrait is not simply yet another Villiers one? The same necklace, the same pearl earring, the same hair, nearly the same face: the Villiers has more weight, but that may be due to age only: the Washington one is closer to the Braganza one). If I had to chose, I would say that it is Villiers...

The one for sale is not a Lely, but how close to him it may be is unclear. It certainly is an interesting painting, for a very reasonable price.