"Flemish School, ca. 1550" is copy after Raphael (though with a Flemish connection)

Aguttes, from France, sells on 29 May 2018 a "Flemish School, c. 1550" drawing of the Adoration of the Magi, estimated at 2,500 to 4,000 Euro.

It is a good-sized (28 by 44 cm) but somewhat damaged drawing showing a quality composition which is well executed, but not brilliantly so.

The work is a design for a tapestry by Raphael, now in the Vatican Museums, and probably created at the Pieter Van Aelst workshop. The above drawing from the Morgan Library may be the original, and is certainly considered to be contemporary with the tapestry.

Comparison of a detail (upper left corner) will show the difference in quality, the condition issues with the work for sale, and the fact that the Morgan version is larger. But despite all this, it also shows the considerable quality and skill of the Aguttes version.

I have not been able to find good images of the finished tapestry, only partial images under an angle, which is rather disappointing. This one, from a tour operator in Rome, is the best I could find (and the accompanying text is surprisingly informative).

Unless some evidence could be found linking the drawing for sale directly to Pieter Aerts and his workshop, I think the estimate is about right, perhaps somewhat high for a copy.

"Circle of Master of the Prodigal Son" is copy after Adriaan de Weerdt.

Ader, from France, sells on 4 May 2018 a "Dutch School, ca. 1600, circle of the Master of the Prodigal Son" Ruth and Boaz, estimated at 800 to 1,200 Euro.

The style reminds me more of Frans Floris than of the Master of the Prodigal on first sight, but in the end this is just a decent copy after an engraving by Philips Galle after a design by Adriaan de Weerdt, which is kept in the Albertina in Vienna.

The painting has changed the background though, making it a bit more lively and Flemish (Breugelian) in style. A nice enough painting, and worth the estimate, but nothing more.

"Follower of Colijn de Coter" is copy after Hugo Van der Goes

Mercier, from France, sells on 15 April 2018 a "Flemish School, second half of the 16th century, follower of Colijn de Coter" Descent from the Cross, estimated at 12,000 to 14,000 Euro.

It actually is a rather poor copy after Hugo Van der Goes, his Descent from the Sint-Janshospitaal in Bruges (or the better version from the Cambrai City Museum, pictured here). This is by far his most often copied work, and one can buy for a similar price a much better version that what is offered here. It isn't even clear that this is actually an old copy and not a 19th century or more recent one. As an old copy, it should be worth 3,000 to 4,000 Euro. As a more recent copy, it is virtually worthless.

Colijn de Coter, slightly younger than Van der Goes, also painted in the same tradition and general Early Netherlandish style, but there is no real link between this work (or this version) and the art of De Coter.

UPDATE: a reader alerted me that I had already tweeted about this work in the past, when it was offered at Hampel last year, with the same estimate, but (of course) failed to sell. It's good to see that sometimes the buyers are smarter than the auction houses :-)

UPDATE: now for sale with art dealer Jean Moust as by an Anonymous Flemish Painter, 2nd half 16th century, priced at 11,600 Euro (costs included), so clearly cheaper than at the two auctions. Still  in my opinion way overpriced, and still no mention of Van der Goes.

UPDATE: price now (30/08/2018) lowered to 10,000 Euro, still a bit above my estimate of 3,000 to 4,000! The description now indicates that it is a copy after Van der Goes, so we're getting there in the end.

"Flemish School / Spanish School, circle of Morales" is copy after Coxcie

The Poitiers auction house, in France, sells on 7 April 2018 a "Flemish School, late 16th century" "Descent of the cross" estimated at 1,000 to 2,000 Euro. Bizarrely, the image has the description "Spanish School of the late 16th century, circle of Morales" instead.

The work is actually a copy of a Michiel Coxcie original which was quite popular in its day. The above original is in the collection of Park Abbey in Heverlee, close to Leuven, Belgium. It of course isn't a "descent of the cross" but "Christ carrying the cross"...

The copy for sale is rather bland, and the estimate is probably right. 

UPDATE: again for sale on 10 September 2018 with a lowered estimate of 500 to 600 Euro, which isn't a lot for this work. 

4 "Flemish school" paintings: work by Willem van Herp? Or after Marten de Vos?

Lamas Bolaño, from Spain, sells on 22 March 2018 two sets of two paintings from the "Flemish School, 17th century", estimated at 5,500 to 7,000 Euro per pair.

The works are related to paintings by Willem van Herp (1613-1677), but the condition doesn't really allow me to discern whether they are by or after him. Lot 1162 shows the "works of men", while lot 1169 displays Biblical scenes. The works have Latin texts at the bottom, but they are too small to decipher for me.

The second painting for sale shows people working on the land. This is a fragment of a painting by Willem Van Herp from a series on stories from Genesis, which was sold at Sotheby's in 2006, as can be seen at the RKD.

The final one is the easiest to recognise, as it shows the building of the Ark of Noach. This as well is part of a painting by Van Herp from the same series, again showing the bottom right corner of the larger work (thanks to the RKD again!).

But in this case the differences are more pronounced, and I was able to find another, better work much closer to the painting for sale. I haven't been able to find the location or origin of this version, which is given as "Flemish". It is very close to the work for sale, with the identical castle in the upper right and so on, but in much better condition and probably better painted as well.
 

Perhaps it is the original work at the basis of this engraving by Sadeler. It is based on a design by Marten de Vos, but one would expect the engraving to be in the reverse direction of the painting (this isn't always the case, but in the vast majority of cases this reversion is the result).

So it may well be that Van Herp isn't the artist behind these paintings (directly or as inspiration), but that Van Herp and our anonymous artist both used the same engravings as their starting point.

And sure enough, we also find engravings for other works in the series, like the Methusalem, and Cain in the smithy (which means we have now not only found the origin for these works, but also identified the stories behind them, yay!)

The estimate seems rather steep for copies after engravings, but they form a nice set in any case: 4,000 to 5,000 for the 4 together seems more realistic though.

"Flemish school" is copy after Jan Brueghel

Horta, from Belgium, sells on 26 March 2018 a "Flemish School, 17th century" Diana as huntress, estimated at 10,000 to 12,000 Euro.

The work is a reasonably well executed but simplified copy of an original by Hendrick Van Balen and Jan Brueghel. A much better copy was sold at Lempertz in November 2017 for 27,000 Euro. Strangely enough, the work was until recently for sale with a correct attribution at antique dealer Jan Muller.

The original from 1620 is kept in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. It is said to be by Jan Brueghel and the workshop of Rubens.

The work for sale is probably worth around 5,000 Euro.

"Circle of Michaelina Wauthier" is copy after Van Dyck

Vanderkindere, from Belgium, sells on 27 March 2018 a "Circle of Michaelina Wauthier" Mystic marriage, estimated at 300 to 400 Euro.

I see very little influence of Wauthier in this mediocre work though. She has painted at least one Mystic Marriage (now kept in the Seminary of Namur), and she is the well-deserved candy of the month in Flemish Baroque painting as she has been undervalued for way too long, even though she is a very good painter and should be one of the standard names behind the big three (Rubens, Van Dyck and Jordaens), up there with people like Rombouts, De Crayer, Van Thulden, or Quellin.

But that doesn't mean that some unrelated work should be tagged on her "entourage" when there is no indication of any influence; the work for sale is a poor copy after Van Dyck (from the Royal Collection), nothing more, nothing less.

UPDATE: sold for 350 Euro.

"Flemish School" is copy after Adriaen Isenbrant

Millon, from France, sells on 16 March 2018 a "Flemish School, late 16th century" Mystic marriage, estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 Euro.

The work is a copy after a much better work by Adriaen Isenbrant now in the Alte Pinakothek, with altered colours, as if it is created after a drawing or a black-and-white photograph. It looks to be a lot later and may well be a 19th century. The estimate seems optimistic.

10K "Attributed to Jan van Hemessen" is copy after Domenico Fetti

Millon, from France, sells on 16 March 2018 an "Attributed to Jan Sanders Van Hemessen" Ecce homo, estimated at 10,000 to 15,000 Euro. The same work was offered in December as well.

It is an interesting work, but sadly not by Van Hemessen (1500-1566), but a copy after Domenico Fetti (1589-1624), a work now in the Alte Pinakothek. As such, and being a decent but far from brilliant copy, it is probably worth 3,000 to 4,000 Euro.

UPDATE: not sold, now again for sale at Millon on 13 June 2018 with a reduced (but still to high) estimate of 6,000 to 8,000 Euro and an unchanged description.

"Dutch School" is copy after Jacob de Backer

Castor Hara Drouot, from France, sells on 9 March 2018 a "Dutch School, 17th century" Adam and Eve, estimated at 1,000 to 1,500 Euro.

It is a copy after a work I already mentioned in an earlier post, and which was sold at Dorotheum in 2016 for 54,000 Euro. While the Dorotheum version is clearly better, the price difference is still huge and getting the one for sale now for 1,000 Euro seems like quite a bargain.

UPDATE: for sale at Dorotheum on 23 October 2018 as a Jacob de Backer! Certified by Klaus Ertz, who isn't really a reliable authority any more, but still a nice upgrade from my "copy after". The work has been cleaned and is now valued at 15,000 to 20,000 Euro, which seems realistic. Of course they don't mention the provenance, which really is a lost art at auctions.

Lot corrected before I could post my blog :-(

Champion-Kusel, from France, sells on 10 March 2018 a "Dutch School, ca. 1600, follower of Pietro Candido" estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 Euro.

The work was originally offered as "Flemish School, ca. 1600", and would then have made an interesting blog post. However, by the time I came around to actually writing it, the description had been improved with the information I wanted to offer. Bummer!

I have discussed the original work behind this copy(?) in May 2017, when another work incorporating elements from this one (the putti) was offered. The original version can be found in the Frans Hals Museum as by Peter de Witte (Pietro Candido).

"French School" is copy after Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre

Brussels Art Auctions, from Belgium (duh), sells on 30 January 2018 a pair of "French School , 18th-19th century" works, showing the Rape of Europa and the Judgment of Paris, estimated at 500 to 600 Euro.

I haven't found an origin for the Judgment of Paris depiction yet, but the Rape of Europa is a copy after the work by Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre (where "Pierre" presumably is the surname, rather confusing this!) Pierre (1714-1789) was the penultimate French "Premier peintre du roi" (between François Boucher and Joseph-Marie Vien), so quite an important painter in his time, although now he is, well not forgotten but hardly a household name anymore. The original painting (now housed in the Dallas Museum of Art) is a huge work, 240 by 274 cm.

This is a reversed copy, so presumably after an engraving. The estimate seems about right.

"Anonymous" is copy after Jan Brueghel

Loeckx, from Belgium, sells on 30 January 2018 an "Anonymous, 17th century" Golgotha, estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 Euro.

This is a copy after Jan Brueghel, a Crucifixion now in the Alte Pinakothek. As so often with these copies after a good work, the version for sale is pleasing to look at but falls short when seen in detail, because the composition shows the skill of the original artist, but in the details one sees the lack of talent the copiist had. There are some differences between the works, so it may be that the copy is based on another version of this work, not the Munich version, but the basic similarity plus the many identical persons and groups are telling enough.

Still, at 1,500 Euro this seems like a fair price, and it gives me a good reason to show a very good Brueghel.

UPDATE: for sale on 8 April 2018 in Saint Omer, in the north of France, for an unknown estimate, with description "Dutch School, 17th century". If the estimate is lower now (or better still, it is sold without a reserve), this may be a small bargain.

UPDATE 2: sold for 5,000 Euro!

"Cardinal Howard" is Lord High Admiral Charles Howard

Van Ham, from Germany, sells on 31 January 2018 an "English Master, 17th/18th century" portrait of Cardinal Howard, estimated at 200 to 400 Euro.

The portrait shows someone with the Order of the Garter with the Great George (the image of George slaying the Dragon), which facilitates the identification of the sitter, as this is a very exclusive club.

Some searching, helped by the fact that the sitter indeed was a Howard, led me to Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham (1536-1624), the English commander at the time of the Armada, so a major figure in English history of the period. 

The painting for sale is a poor partial copy of a portrait by Daniel Mytens (the major portrait painter in England before the arrival of Anthony Van Dyck), from ca. 1620. It is now housed in the Greenwich Museum. Some colours have been changed, so perhaps it is based on an engraving, but it seems more likely to be a copy of the painting with some artistic license added. 

The value of the work is probably about the estimate, but having the correct identification may help attract the bidders: I would guess there are more marine history buffs wanting this, than people interested in a portrait of some Cardinal Howard.