"Circle of Jan Baptist II Saive'' is copy after Joachim Beuckelaer

Campo & Campo, from Belgium (but selling under the Drouot wings), sells on 29 May 2018 a "Circle of Jean Baptiste II Saive" kitchen scene, a large canvas (128 by 190 cm)estimated at 5,000 to 8,000 Euro.

Stylistically, the link to Saive (1597-1641) is rather clear; the above, sold at Sotheby's in 1990 (as by Jan Baptist I saive, but by the RKD also given to his son Jan Baptist II) has similarly looking woman in nearly the same position.

Almost exactly the same position though (the left arm has been slightly raised in the copy) can be found in a work by Joachim Beuckelaer from the Musem in Vienna. The work is from 1574, so there can be no doubt which was the original and which the copy.

Even though it is a copy, it is a huge work and reasonably well painted, so the estimate is probably right.

Copy of the Carracci pietà attributed to Teniers

Campo & Campo, from Belgium, sells on 23 May 2017 as lot 201 an "attributed to David Teniers II" copy of the Pietà by Annibale Carracci, estimated at 8,000 to 10,000 Euro.

It is a very good copy, at about the same dimensions as the original. The work was well-known to Teniers, as it was one of the highlights of the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, now one of the main origins of the beautiful collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

 

Teniers has painted the work a number of times in his depictions of part of the collection of the Archduke, and has also made a smaller drawn copy of it for his illustrated catalogie of the collection from 1660, the first illustrated art catalogue ever (and a book which is, al things considered, reasonably affordable nevertheless, at some £2,000 for a complete original copy with 246 engravings)

But has he also made lifesize copies of any works in the collection? I can't find a reference to other such copies by Teniers, but of course it is possible, and he was certainly both capable and in a position to make this copy.

There are some remarkable differences though (even though the work is clearly painted straight from the original and not from some engraving), most noticeable is the added tableware in the middle right. Also clear is that the copy is slightly wider, showing the Mary and Christ and not the slightly cut-off version of Carracci. It almost looks as if whoever painted this copy, wanted to make a "better" version, avoiding the emptiness of the shelf and the crampedness of the original. By slightly changing the position of Mary, Teniers (or the artist) brought the two protagonists closer together as well. So while he increased the emotionality in this regard, he lessened the same emotion by adding some breathing space at the sides and especially at the top, and by adding some more (very restrained) eye candy on the shelf.

While to our modern eyes it probably doesn't make this really better than the original, it makes it different and not really worse either, which is an achievement in itself (it is much easier to ruin such a composition when one starts fiddling with it). So whoever did this (and assuming there isn't an actual Carracci version with this exact composition) must have been a very accomplished artist as well.

Even as an old, good, anonymous copy of this work, evidence of the habit at the time of copying the best Italian works to use as exercise at the moment and inspiration afterwards, it should be worth the estimate.

If it can be proven that it really is the work of Teniers, it should probably be at least 20,000 Euro though, and probably more. It would be great to see it displayed in Vienna next to the original!

"Old Master" is a huge partial copy after Joos Goemaere

Campo & Campo, from Belgium, sells on 29 November 2016 an "Old master, 18th century" Christ in the house of Mary and Martha, estimated at 3,000 to 5,000 Euro.

Despite being a very large canvas (147 by 217 cm!), it is still only a partial copy of a work by Joos Goemaere from ca. 1600. I discussed this work at length in May 2016, when another copy of the painting was for sale in Germany. Goemaere has only one painting which is known to be by him, but it was a very popular one. The early equivalent of a one-hit wonder! In the work for sale, only the man in the front right seems to be an added element.


Its main redeeming quality is its massive size, such large works are rare at relatively low prices and may help this one to reach the estimate. But it's nice to see another, somewhat different version of this work.

UPDATE 1: Bernaerts sells on 5 February 2018 another version of the central element of this painting, similar to the one above (but without the added man to the right). This  one is only estimated at 500 to 600 Euro though. At 100 by 136cm, it still is pretty large, and another indication of how popular this image was.

UPDATE 2: Copages (part of Drouot) sells on 11 June 2018 another complete but simplified version, described as German School, 17th century. But it's only 32 by 54 cm, and on parchment! At 2,000 to 3,000 Euro, it is rather expensive though.

Crowning of thorns

Campo & Campo, Belgium, sells on 29 November 2016 an "Old Master, 16th century" Mocking of Christ, a rather large (107 by 71 cm) oil on panel without an estimate.

The auction catalogue adds that it was described as "Derick Baegert" at a previous sale in 1969. It is not really a Mocking of Christ, more a Crowning of Thorns, with the Flagellation in the background.

It is a work of considerable quality, but hard to put a precise name on it. I have discussed the iconography in a previous post (where I rather stupidly noticed the mechanism to put the crown of thorns on the head of Christ for the first time, even though it is standard in these paintings). This time, the addition of the Flagellation in the background is a bonus, but not a unique invention.

In some aspects the closest composition I could find is probably this one from the workshop of Cornelis Engebrechtsz., from the Gemaldegalerie in Berlin. But the painting for sale is (or looks) older or more archaic, and seems more likely to be from the end of the 15th century, and probably German. Both works have that strange element of the man kneeling in front of Christ pointing to his mouth (instead of holding out a stick, the usual element one can find here).

The above by Jan Joest of Kalkar (1450-1520) also shows the same asic composition, and is already closer in time and place.

Derick Baegert is too good an artist to be responsible for this painting, but perhaps Jan Baegert is a possibility. This Flagellation and Crowning by him is still more restrained and refined than the work for sale though.

What's it worth? 8,000 to 10,000 Euro says my gut instinct.

"Old Master, 17th-18th c." is copy after Bassano

Campo, from Belgium, sells on 31 May 2016 an "Old Master, 17th / 18th century" Winter scene, estimated at 5,000 to 8,000 Euro.

It is the same composition (but in a different version) I already discussed in a post from February, then attributed to Vrancx, but in both cases a copy after one of the most popular works of Bassano. This one is slightly overestimated and will probably be worth 2,000 to 3,000 Euro instead.

Copy after Rubens

Campo&Campo, from Antwerp, sells an "Old Master, 18th century" depiction of Christ offering the key to Saint Peter, a small (37 by 30) panel estimated at 700 to 900 Euro.

It is a reverse (so after an engraving) copy of a painting by Rubens, now in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin. Not sure it is worth the estimate, it is a rather lifeless copy, but of course such copies nearly always pale when put next to the original... UPDATE: not sold, now in the after sale.

Yet another copy of the same Coxcie for sale!

In what is becoming a quite absurd coincidence, this is my my third "Ecce Homo by Coxcie" post in 5 days, as yet another copy of the same picture from the second post comes up for auction now. Rare!

Campo&Campo, auction house from Antwerp, sells on 2 June 2015 an "Old Master, 17th or 18th century" flagellation. It is obviously yet another copy of the supposed Coxcie "Ecce Homo", and comes without estimate. It clearly isn't the long lost original though...