Inviting Dutch woman portrait

Galerie Moderne sells on 23 February 2016 an "Anonymous, dated 1673" portrait of a woman, estimated at 1,000 to 1,500 Euro.

It caught my eye because of the rather inviting pose of the woman: while the painting is at first glance a static, typical modest portrait of a somewhat Puritan or Calvinistic Dutch 17th century woman in the typical luxury clothing of the period, it changes when you notice the way she actively opens the lower part of her dress to reveal the embroidered red undergarments (sounds like lingerie, but is still well-dressed).

I don't know how to read this, whether this was considered perfectly normal and acceptable or whether this is way more suggestive and gives a glimpse of less strict morals and subjects. I wasn't aware of other comparable paintings in this genre, but searching further revealed other somewhat similar examples.

One painter who employed this was Isaac Luttichuys, who died early in 1673 and so probably isn't responsible for this work (the quality of his work was usually better as well, the work for sale is very good on a small scale but falls a bit flat when seen from up close). The above example (sold at Sotheby's in 2004) has less striking underdress, but the pose, with the hand actively opening the upper dress, is comparable.

Particularly close is the self-portrait from 1661 by Gesina Ter Borch, daughter of Gerard Ter Borch (from the Rijksmuseum).

The style of the painting for sale is comparable to the few woks by Steven van Duyven, like the above from 1680 (from the RKD). But it will most likely remain an anonymous Dutch work. Still, the unusual pose makes it more interesting than most of these, and it is easily good enough to surpass the highest estimate here.

UPDATE: sold for 1,100 Euro, not as much as I thought it would do.

UPDATE 2: again for sale at Tradart Deauville on 9 October 2016 as Spanish School, estimated at 1,000 to 1,500 Euro.

Woman with chicken

At Côte d'Opale, an auction house in Boulogne-sur-Mer, they sell on 18 April a "Dutch School, 17th century" portrait of a woman with a chicken, estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 Euro.

I can't find fault with that description, and the estimate seems low, for a painting which needs some TLC but could turn out to be quite special. The painting is done in the loose, nearly expressionistic style favoured by only a few of their portraitists, most famously Frans Hals but also e.g. Rembrandt and Carel Fabritius (his "head of a boy" pictured, from wikigallery.org). While I don't think it is by any of those, it still is a very well painted portrait, where the individuality of the woman and the characteristics of her face are captured with only a few well-placed brushstrokes, and the hands show the roughness of a farmer, not the finesse of the nobility usually portrayed. Could it be by Abraham van Diepenbeeck? His "Portrait of an old Jew" in the Antwerp Museum seems similar.

The painting is damaged and very dirty, so it's a gamble what can be made of it eventually. But it is the kind of gamble that could pay off quite nicely, and it is a much better painting than the usual copies, derivations, and third-rate painters one finds for these prices (at auction and on this blog, in all fairness).

Dutch treat: a sleeper gift for the 100th post!

As this is my 100th blog post, I thought I'ld make my regular readers happy with my (in my opinion) most important sleeper discovery so far.

At Giafferi, in Paris, they sell on 3 April 2015 a "Dutch School, 17th century" "Portrait of a young woman with a pair of gloves", measuring 114 by 79 cm and estimated at 6,000 to 8,000 Euro.

I'm pretty certain (though obviously this is opinion, not a guaranteed expert report) that it is in fact a typical portrait by Ferdinand Bol (1616-1680), one of the most talented and sought-after pupils of Rembrandt.

The sitter is not the most charming, which at first may give the impression that the painting isn't that good. But in fact it looks to be perfect in even the smallest details, with the hands painted brilliantly, the textures of the clothes, jewellery, chair all life-like, and the face as individual as one could wish for. Whether it is by Bol or not, it is the best "Dutch School" portrait I have seen for that kind of money in recent months, and should fetch at least 25,000 Euro (I wouldn't be surprised, if it is as good as it looks to be, to see it in a big auction soon with an estimate of some 50,000 Euro). These kind of paintings rarely turn up, and to get it at 6,000 Euro would be a real bargain.

UPDATE: in what is a major reality check for this blog, the painting was not sold. Apparently I was the only one convinced that this was a good work by a known artist, and not some work by a follower of these... I'll try to find a better sleeper for my 200th post, and keep an eye out to see if this one resurfaces elsewhere or with a different valuation.

You can compare this painting with the "A lady with a fan" in the National Gallery. Note that the portrait for sale, apart from the two gloves, also has a fan in her hand. Both sitters have nearly the same necklace-pendant, and the same hairdo. This sitter also isn't the most striking beauty, but has character and individuality.

Another comparable portrait is the "Portrait of a woman" in the Met. Same hairdo, same kind of broche, same type of sitter.

Now, Bol wasn't the only one to paint this type of portrait, one can find similar works by Herkules Sanders, Frans Hals even, and a number of good Dutch School examples. But to me, this looks too much like Ferdinand Bol to not attribute it to him, as far as that can be determined from an online picture. If someone here sees it in the flesh, so to speak, and would like to give their comments on it, I'ld be grateful!

Second thoughts

Between writing this post and publishing it, I tried to look into this a little more, and I'm not so sure any more. I'm very sure that this is a very good painting, by a highly accomplished Dutch portraitist. But without seeing the painting myself, I don't think I can confidently place it with Ferdinand Bol and not with e.g. Johannes Verspronck, who made quite a few similar paintings (especially the bottom one is really good and comparable). Versproncks paintings seem a bit more "Flemish", full-blooded, than the quite restrained Bol paintings, which fits more closely with the one for sale.

And then there is someone like Bartholomeus Van der Helst, whose work is often quite different from the portrait for sale (and often simply worse), but who was quite capable of producing something like this. The second example above sold for 350,000 Euro at Christie's in 2010, so it's not as if the painting is automatically worthless (well, less than 10,000 Euro or so) if it isn't by Bol and doesn't feature a handsome young woman (a good Verspronck doesn't come cheap either).

Whoever buys this work will probably need to do some good research, comparing not just the subject type but actual painting styles, before a definitive attribution can be reached (if ever). I just would love to know the eventual conclusion!

On the other hand, this painting may be attributed to Ferdinand Bol by the auction house Clars and is only half as expensive, but it is miles further away from a real Bol than the one I present here. It looks more French than Dutch to me.

Frozen adoration

Some paintings are iconographically simply weird. While the epiphany, the adoration of the magi, happened in winter, it is rather unusual to see it depicted with a completely frozen port in the background. The painting almost looks as if someone has pasted two halves together, one with a wintery landscape and one with an adoration, since they shared the season or something. It lacks the integration similar works by Brueghel have, where the adoration is part of the winter scene, not next to it.

For sale at Arce lot 1418, described as Dutch School, 17th century, and measuring 100 by 145 cm, it is estimated at 1,900 Euro.  I don't see a lot of Dutch influence in it, but it is so weird that anything is possible basically. 

Flemish, portrait of a doctor, ca. 1600

For sale at Briscadieu in Bordeaux, 28 February 2015, lot 5, with an estimate of 3,000 to 4,000 Euro; a portrait of a man with his hand on a skull and a "cure-oreille", an ear pick, around his neck. Described as "Dutch School, ca. 1590".

The same painting was for sale at Hampel, in Germany, three years ago, with an estimate of 10,000 to 15,000 Euro (as far as I can tell it wasn't sold then). Perhaps it is due to the pictures, but it looks as if the painting has been cleaned or restored in the years inbetween, and that this hasn't done the picture any good: while the cape is more visible now, the face looks worse, which gives the painting an impression of lesser quality. At Hampel, it was described as "Flemish School, 17th century", so both the age and location have somewhat changed in the current auction.

It's an interesting image, but until someone identifies the sitter (from the weapon at the top right), it will be hard to sell it for much more than the current estimate. Perhaps for an art-loving ear surgeon?

Dutch seventeenth century, fishermen

Presumably a Dutch seventeenth century painting of fishermen and the harbour. For sale at Casa d'Aste Babuino in an auction with a rather nice assortment of pictures, but an online catalogue which could benefit of larger pictures. This one is estimated at 800 to 1,200 Euro only, which isn't a lot for a large (93 by 146 cm) oil like this. It has some elements of the work of Jan Harmensz. Vijnck, but is too precise for it. It may be that a more close-up picture would reveal the relative weakness of the work (it is amazing and a bit depressing how many pictures look good on a small view, but turn out to be very deficient when seen on a larger scale or more close-up; not just the state they are in, but the artistic quality of the work, which shows that the painter has looked at examples by known masters but just doesn't have the talent (and patience probably) to come even close in details, only in the general outline). But as it stands, it seems well worth a gamble, as it looks like a really nice, good quality Dutch painting which should be worth closer to 5,000 Euro.