"Tulip market at Lier harbour" isn't at Lier...

Hampel, from Germany, sells on 5 December 2019 a "Philips de Mompere the Younger" "Tulip market at the harbour of Lier", estimated at 35,000 to 40,000 Euro.

The attribution and description are attributed to Klaus Ertz, an expert who has (as the saying goes) forgotten more about Flemish art than I ever knew. They claim to clearly recognise the Saint Gummarus church and the Beguinage, and thus indicate that this painting is very important as a witness of Lier during this period, and how the city tried to overcome economic hardship by using the tulip trade so well known from the Netherlands.

The only problem is that this isn't Lier at all. The original of this painting shows Lier, but this is a copy where the buildings have been changed to (presumably) some imaginary, generalized (and much worse painted) city. Ertz should know this, as he had (according to the RKD) included this painting, which was originally sold in 1979 at Christie's, as "circle of Joos de Mompere" in his catalogue in 1986, and correctly identified the city as Lier.

The most obvious difference is the city hall with the belfry. The actual hall has been remodelled in a neoclassical style afterwards , but the Belfry (with the peculiar top) is clearly the same in the original painting, and clearly different (though based on the real one) in the one for sale.

But also the supposed Saint Gummarus church looks totally different compared to the actual one.

Another version of this work is kept in the Lier City Museum and is attributed to Philips de Mompere as well. The buildings are again very precisely painted (though rearranged in a fictional setting).

The work was previously offered in June 2019 in France, at Tessier Sarrou, with an estimate of 10,000 to 15,000 Euro (I don't know the result of this sale). That auction gave the much better description of "Market in a village square", and a much better attribution of "Follower of Jan Brueghel II".

It almost looks as if a version of the actual Lier painting was found in an unfinished state, and some less talented painter filled in the background with some buildings and churches. Not really Lier...

"Jan de Beer" at Hampel

Hampel, from Germany, sells on 5 December 2019 a "Jan de Beer" Saint Christopher, estimated at 60,000 to 80,000 Euro.

The attribution to Jan de Beer is based on similarities they see with a De Beer (attributed) from the Prague Museum (the Narodni Galerie), but these seem rather superficial.

A much more closely related work is in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts, and is not attributed to an artist. The work for sale seems to be a slightly less well executed variation by the same artist or workshop.

The work offered now was sold by Christie's in 2012 as an "Antwerp School, ca. 1530-1540" work, and then fetched 145,000 Euro. Which means that, if sold at estimate, it would be at less than half price this time around... It's a good and interesting work, but I don't think it is by De Beer.

Reappearing at Hampel, March 2019: an overview

I've updated quote a few older blog posts with reference to the 28 March 2019 auction at Hampel, Germany, because many paintings (or very close copies) reappear in that auction.

This includes:

*A "resurrection" (or ascension), sold at Audap Mirabaud in June 2018. The version at Hampel is probably not the same but nearly identical.

*An "attributed to Hermann tom Ring" which they tried to sell in September 2018, and now again with a lowered estimate. The attribution is still wrong though.

*A "Simon Marmion", for sale at Hermitage in November 2018, with an identical lower estimate. It still isn't by Marmion though.

*I already wrote a blog post this week about the Francken they now correctly offer and which I first discussed in 2015.

*And finally, an "adoration of the shepherds", for sale at Carlo Bonte in September 2017, is now offered as the work of Hans Rottenhammer and estimated at 28,000 to 35,000 Euro. It is a copy after engravings by Maerten de Vos: whether the copy is made by Rottenhammer is hard to be sure of.

1,500 Euro in 2015, now 20,000 Euro?

Hampel, from Germany, sells on 28 March 2019 a "Frans Francken II" Preaching of Saint John the Baptist, estimated at 20,000 to 40,000 Euro (which is quite a wide margin).

The painting looks awfully close (also in dimensions) to one I already discussed in 2015, when it was for sale in Ireland (at Sheppard's) as a "Seventeenth-century Dutch school" with an estimate of 1,500 to 2,500 Euro, after having been offered in 2014 already for 3,500 Euro.

It looks as if after the 2015 sale, it has been unframed (revealing slightly more to the sides), and lightly cleaned, and my tentative attribution to Francken confirmed.

"Dutch mannerist, ca. 1600" is copy after Marten de Vos

Hampel, from Germany, sells on 6 December 2018 a "Dutch Mannerist, ca. 1600" Family image of Christ, a small (21 by 27 cm) oil on copper estimated at 6,000 to 8,000 Euro.

I always have trouble remembering what the common name for this image is, but some searching refreshed my memory: the "Holy Kinship" or the "Kinship of the Virgin".

The description of this work indicates that it has an attribution to Goltzius, and the auctioneer sees some similarities with the work of Cornelis de Vos. I see no similarities at all with his work though, I guess the auctioneer just pointed to the wrong de Vos. Cornelis (1584-1651) is a typical, very good Baroque painter in the style of Rubens and the like, best known for his beautiful family portraits and portraits of children. Maerten de Vos (1532-1603) (no family of Cornelis) is two generations removed from Cornelis, and paints in a completely different tradition and style, initially close to Frans Floris, later in a more individual, modern style.

And sure enough, the work for sale is a rather run-of-the-mill copy after Maerten de Vos, a very good work by him from the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent, there titled the "Family of Saint Anne". It's a large oil on canvass, 135 by 170 cm, from 1585, so quite different from the copy here.

I doubt this work will fetch the estimate, if people realise that it simply is a copy (or just look at the lack of quality of course).

Dutch still life is copy after Pieter Jansz.

Hampel, from Germany, sells on 26 September 2018 a "Dutch still life in the style of Willem Heda" estimated at 6,000 to 8,000 Euro.

It is actually a copy (with alterations) after Pieter Jansz., the main competitor of Heda. The bread, fish and salt container all are identical. It doesn't look to be good enough to be by Jansz. though, but should fetch the estimate anyway. The one above is in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum.

The version in the Rijksmuseum even has the same tilted porcelain dish, and the same lemon...

Problems at Hampel

Hampel, from Germany, has an interesting Old Master sale on 26 September 2018. Plenty of good paintings and interesting research material, but even the most fleeting browsing reveals many dubious attributions and estimates, things which are too obvious or problematic to happen at a large auction hous and with the prices they claiml the paintings are worth.

I already tweeted about some of these, here's a recap and some other ones I have doubts about.

Lot 639 is an "attributed to Frans Francken The Younger" adoration of the shepherds, estimated at 45,000 to 50,000 Euro. For that money, I can buy better Francken's every month...

Lisaert, from the Maidstone Museum

Another Lisaert, from a Dorotheum auction, with a comparable Virgin

The painting resembles much closer the work of Pieter Lisaert, a second-rate Francken follower, especially in the way e.g. the faces are painted. Calling it a "follower of Francken" would be acceptable, but the estimate is about 10 times too high.

Lot 627 is "Attributed to Hermann tom Ring" and estimated at 100,000 to 150,000 Euro. Which is quite hefty for an interesting painting which has no resemblance at all to the works of tom Ring (Hermann or another member of the family).

Three typical works by Hermann tom Ring

A portrait and a self portrait by Ludger

The tom Rings are a very interesting family of painters who I didn't know yet. They hailed from Münster, and the two most famous are the brothers Hermann (1521-1596) and Ludger the Younger (1522-1584). They were both inspired by the Flemish masters of the 15th century, but also by people like Maarten van Heemskerck (1498-1574), bringing with them a great deal of realism and renaissance classicism. The opposite, one could say, of the anecdotical, somewhat Brueghelian (or Van Reymerswaele-style) work for sale.

And sure enough, the work was sold as a "Circle of Reymerswaele" at Dorotheum in 2017, fetching 17,500 Euro. Which seems both a fair price and a reasonably fair description, certainly better in both regards than what we have now.

Lot 630 is a "Flemish School, 16th or 17th century, or youth work from the circle of Rubens)" Saint Francis and the Angels, estimated at 18,000 to 25,000 Euro.

Well, you may forget the 16th century or any link with the youth works by Rubens, and best forget the 18,000 Euro as well, as it is a reasonably competent copy after an engraving by Lucas Vorsterman, based on a painting by Gerard Seghers from about 1620-1624 now in the Louvre. So date is 1625 or (much) later, value is 2,000 to 3,000 Euro probably.

Lot 632, "Circle of Georges De la Tour", Mary Magdalene, estimated at 50,000 to 60,000 Euro. No provenance given, and my gut feeling is "painted in the last 20 years". It just feels like a modern fake, though I don't have the means to prove it. The painting doesn't have the simplicity and purity of a De la Tour, but looks more like someone awkwardly aiming for it.

I realise that the work isn't sold as by De la Tour but as by someone close to him, but still... Compare it to the Magdalene from the Prado, and the differences are striking. The one for sale looks more like a Tamara de Lempicka in some ways!

Lot 636 is a "Gilles Coignet the Elder" Allegory of Ire, estimated at 15,000 to 20,000 Euro.

While I haven't found the original yet, I think it is another copy after an engraving. A rather good one though, so this might be the original and worth the estimate. I doubt it though, considering the below.

The RKD lists one other version of this work. It used to be attributed to Jacob de Backer, but is now downgraded to "anonymous, Netherlands, 2nd half 16th century". It is kept in the Museum of Capodimonte, in Naples. The Coignet one was sold at Kinsky in 2016 for 15,000 Euro, the same as the current estimate.

UPDATE: lot 627, the Tom Ring that isn't, was (of course) unsold and again for sale on 27 March 2019 with a lowered estimate of 70,000 to 90,000 Euro, and the same erroneous attribution.

Flemish School, late 16th century: a Pieter Huys?

Hampel, from Germany, sells on 12 April 2018 a "Flemish School, end of 16th century" Allegory of Winter, an oil on panel estimated at 30,000 to 40,000 Euro.

It was previously sold in 2015 at Dogny, in Switzerland, for 4,000 Swiss Francs, so the current estimate is about 10 times higher. It has been restored in the meantime, but even so this is a significant increase in value.

It looks like this may be the work of Pieter Huys (1519-1584), whose main body of work is in the Bosch / Brueghel vein of apocalyptic scenes, but who also has a small body of work of rather caricatural people with heavy emotions.

The painting for sale may even be a counterpart to his "A woman enraged", which was offered at Christie's in 2010 for $100,000 (but didn't sell). The work for sale is 65 by 49 cm, oil on panel: the Woman Enraged was 64,3 by 50,2 cm, or nearly the exact same dimensions. Both are allegorical representations of some sin or folly.

The painting for sale has the typical Huys hands and eyes, and mouths showing teeth. Whether it is by or after Huys is hard to tell though. The estimated value seems high without a more firm attribution to Huys, but it is an interesting work and the previous sale was cheap.