"Attributed to Honthorst" seems closer to Bijlert

Carlo Bonte, from Belgium, sells on 21 March 2018 an "Attributed to G. Honthorst" Allegroy of the five senses, a relatively large (126 by 150cm) painting estimated at 5,000 to 8,000 Euro.

It is a fine work, though not good enough to be by one of the great masters, and may well be an old quality copy of a to me  unknown work. The style is closer to the works of Jan van Bijlert (1597-1671) instead of Honthorst (1592-1656). Both were Utrecht caravaggisti, but this work ha more aspects in common with Bijlert.

The most striking is another Allegory of the Senses, which seems almost like a counterpart to the one for sale. It is the property of the Davis Museum in Wellesley College near Boston, USA.

Other elements, like the woman on the left, are also comparable to the work of Bijlert.

The estimate seems about right, perhaps a bit too high.

Gerard van Honthorst or Bartolomeo Passarotti?

Vanderkindere, from Belgium, sells on 13 December 2017 a "Workshop of Gerard van Honthorst" Feeding of the Cat, estimated at 3,000 to 4,000 Euro.

The composition is one I already mentioned in my blog post of 16 December 2016, but the work was attributed by Sotheby's in 2013 to the circle of the Italian Bartolomeo Passarotti (1529-1592). That version, of very comparable dimensions, was sold for $9,000.

The work offered now is based directly on the painting, not on the engraving after it (the colours are identical), but the condition is a lot worse (not only the yellow-brownish colour, which may be removed perhaps, but also some large cracks between the panels), and it seems to be less well painted (which may change when the varnish and dirt are removed, but I think some quality difference wil remain).

The estimate is about right, but the attribution to Honthorst seems way off.

UPDATE: unsold.

UPDATE 2: again for sale at Vanderkindere on 25 April 2018, with same description but much lower estimate of 1,000 to 1,200 Euro, which this work, despite my misgivings, should certainly be worth.

"Flemish School" is Circle of Gerrit Van Honthorst

De Vuyst, from Belgium, sells on 22 October 2016 a "Flemish School, 17th cnetury" Saint Cecilia, a nice sized (95 by 119 cm) work estimated at 3,000 to 5,000 Euro.

It is a good copy after Gerrit Van Honthorst. The 1623 original can be found in the Gemäldegalerie in Kassel, Germany (with very similar dimensions, 90 by 116 cm, info from RKD), but different copies from the same period are known.

One such was sold at Sotheby's in 2008 for £10,000. Slightly smaller than the one here (71 by 85 cm), it was at first glance in a worse condition and not in general better painted either (e.g. the highlighting of the clothing of Cecilia is much better in the version for sale). However, the one for sale has some issues (e.g. the hands of Cecilia have two colours, and there is a strange spot or some damage in her mouth), not really clear to me whether she needs some restoration or whether some restoration has gone wrong.

Still, it should easily fetch the upper estimate.

UPDATE: sold for 3,300 Euro, a bit less than I expected.

"Dutch School" Dentist is copy after Honthorst

Audhuy's, from Nancy, sells on 19 October 2016 a "Dutch School, 17th century" Dentist, a 110 by 145 cm canvas estimated at 1,500 to 2,500 Euro.

It's a fairly good copy after Gerrit van Honthorst, not from his similar but more famous Caravaggist scene with this theme, but from a nearly identical daytime scene from 1627 or 1628 from the Louvre.

The copy lacks the richness of colour, the finesse, the detail which make the original a great painting (together with things like composition which are of course maintained in the copy), but is still a good enough painting in its own right (and the chance of owning an original Honthorst is next to zero for most of us anyway). The estimate seems about right, anything below 2,000 Euro would be cheap for this.

Henriette Marie of the Palatinate

At Tennants, there is a nice "Portrait of a lady" by a "Follower of Gerrit van Honthorst", estimated at £2,500 to £4,000. UPDATE: sold for £2,600. If you don't like to buy a portrait of an unknown sitter, I may be able to help you.

As can be seen from these portraits (one courtesy of Artvalue.com), both attributed to Studio or School of Honthorst,  she probably is Henrietta Maria of the Palatinate, grand daughter of James VI of Scotland / James I of England.  Certainly the second portrait is very similar. If it could be confirmed that it is Henrietta Maria, it should be worth more than £4,000. Obviously, if it could be attributed to Honthorst, it would be worth a lot more!