Abraham van Diepenbeeck, Gerard Seghers, or someone else?

Brussels Art Auctions, from Belgium, sells on 5 February 2019 an "attributed to Abraham van Diepenbeeck" drawing (well, a brunaille, a monochrome brown painting) of the Adoration of the Shepherds, estimated at 10,000 to 15,000 Euro.

It's a very nice oil sketch, by an accomplished artist, but I don't immediately see the link to Van Diepenbeeck (1596-1675). To me, the work seems more closely related to the work of Gerard Seghers (1591-1651).

Many aspects of this work go back to works by Rubens and especially Jacob Jordaens, including the maid with the jug on her head, or the discarded jug in the front, and the cow or ox looking at the spectators from the side. Other aspects, like the shepherd on the right carrying the sheep, can be found at David Teniers (Collection Custodia, copy by Teniers after Schiavone); this work has the ox looking at you as well, and a quite similar position of the Virgin and the kneeling shepherd on the left, so it may have been the direct inspiration for the composition for sale.

Like I said, I haven't found a similar Van Diepenbeeck, but the RKD lists the above Adoration by Gerard Seghers, from the Saint Vincent church in Soignies (Belgium). It has many similar elements (girl with the jug, position of the shepherds, head of the kneeling shepherd, ox on the left, ...) Enough to attribute it to Seghers? No, there have been too many painters creating similar works in this period.

But while Van Diepenbeeck has created at least one Adoration of the Shepherds as well, it doesn't look very similar to me. (Engraving by Cornelis Galle II, image from the Rijksmuseum).

In a strange coincidence (or a case of selection or perception bias?), a painting based on the same composition is now for sale at Scheublein, Germany, on 1 February 2019. It is described as "Unknown, 17th / 18th century", and is actually smaller than the brunaille (30 by 35 cm vs. 44 by 56 cm). It is estimated at only 150 Euro, and sold without limit. It is a strange hybrid, with the shepherd on the right copied nearly exactly, and the virgin reversed left-right, apart from her head which maintains the original direction. Weird! It seems that there should be other versions (or an engraving) out there where this is based on, and which may tell us more about the original artist.

Having said all that, what about the estimate? It's quite steep, certainly without any certainty about the original artist. It seems unlikely that it is by any of the truly greats like Rubens, although perhaps Jordaens is a possibility. For a more minor artist (compared to Rubens or Van Dyck), 10,000 Euro is a lot, but it is a large, finished, and good work, and a finished painting of this quality would easily fetch a lot more, so I guess that the price is reasonable, though hardly a bargain.

Reading this blog can save you a lot of money ;-)

Vanderkindere, from Brussels, sells on 13 September 2016 a"Probably Dutch school (?) 17th century" Denial of Saint Peter, estimated at 1,000 to 1,500 Euro.

It is the (over-)cleaned version of a painting sold at Rops (also in Belgium) in May, which was then estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 Euro and sold for 2,000 Euro, against my advice that "I certainly don't believe it is worth as much". In that blog post, I had identified it as a "reversed copy after one of the masterpieces of Gerard Seghers, "The Denial of Saint Peter"". They now have the right subject but omit the origin of the image. I'm not convinced it's a 17th century copy either.

The current estimation may be right (or still too high), but after paying 2,000 Euro plus auction costs plus the costs of cleaning the painting, it must hurt to only get back a probable 1,000 Euro minus the auction costs.

UPDATE: sold for 1,400 Euro, seems still too high to me.

"17th century card players" is copy after Gerard Seghers

Rops, from Belgium, sells on 22 May 2016 a "17th century Card Players" large (92 by 134cm) work estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 Euro.

I doubt it is that old, and I certainly don't believe it is worth as much, as it is a relatively weak reversed copy after one of the masterpieces of Gerard Seghers, "The Denial of Saint Peter", a still larger work now in the North Carolina Museum of Art.

UPDATE: sold for 2,000 Euro.

UPDATE 2: what happened next 

Tajan: "Environment of Gerard Seghers" is copy after or workshop of Abraham Janssens

Tajan, from Paris, sells on 17 December 2015 a "Flemish School, ca. 1640, environment of Gerard Seghers" Angels with the dead Christ, estimated at 4,000 to 6,000 Euro.

It is a copy after or workshop variation of a work by Abraham Janssens from ca. 1610, the original of which can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

It looks to be a copy (it probably isn't good enough to be a workshop version), but a fairly good one. The main differences are in the foreground, the work for sale has the crown of thorns while the original has other elements of the passion, including something that may be the grail. The hand, visible beneath the left knee, is also missing in the copy. It would be interesting to know if the Met version has alterations, perhaps the copy matches the original version or an older idea of the composition? At least one other version exists (mentioned in the notes at the Met entry), but I haven't found an image of it.

The estimate may be a bit too high for a copy, but one never knows. UPDATE: indeed too high, not sold!

Gerard Seghers, Saint Peter

At Versailles Enchères, 8 February, one can find a "Saint Peter" attributed to Gerard Seghers. It is a good partial copy of the original one can find in the Louvre, but looking at the clothing and the hands, I don't think it is a Gerard Seghers. Estimated at 4,000 to 5,000 Euro, this seems too much for a copy in this condition. The original is simply a lot richer in colour, in texture, in details... UPDATE: sold for 5,000 Euro, so much for my opinion :-)