"Attributed to Frans Francken" looks like the real deal

Horta, from Belgium,  sells on 17 October 2016 a "17th c. Flemish School, attributed to Frans Franck (sic)" Victory of Alexander, estimated at 10,000 to 12,000 Euro.

For once, an "attributed to" doesn't look like a "good but not good enough" or simply "copy after", but may well be really by the artist, in this case Frans Francken II.

A work very close to it, of about the same dimensions, is listed in the RKD database as being in a Swiss private collection and by Frans Francken II. It also gives us the correct scene, not a victory of Alexander the Great but the Biblical meeting between David and Abigail. The main (tiny) differences between the two version are the top of the mountain at the right (a kind of forest at Horta, some undefined humps at RKD) and the tree on the right border. Looking at the figues in detail, the RKD ones are less precise, more schematic and caricatural. Perhaps this is due to a restoration and a better picture, but I think the Horta version is simply a better version (it is not unusual with the Franckens to find very, very close copies).

 

(All the images can be rightclicked to see more detail, and both Horta and RKD allow for viewing these in greater resolution on their sites as well). 

The quality of the work for sale, the detail and finesse in the drawing and colouring, are way better than the usual School of Francken works we get at auction (and they have produced a massive amount of works over the decades!). I would estimate it way above the auction house, at 60,000 to 80,000 Euro.

UPDATE: sold for 48,000 Euro! I wasn't alone in seeing quality here.

"Follower of Frans Francken" is after a drawing by Ambrosius Francken

Pascal Blouet, from France, sells on 16 October 2016 a "Flemish School, 17th century, follower of Frans Francken" Christ and the Adulterous Woman, estimated at 3,000 to 5,000 Euro.

While, rather unusual for these Francken productions, I can't find another example of the same painting, the RKD lists a drawing by Ambrosius Francken with the same composition. The painting is clearly inferior, so while it is a School of Francken work based on a Francken composition, it is not an original composition by a Francken. Still, as one of the rarer Francken works, it is nice to highlight it here. The estimate is perhaps a bit too high, it will struggle at 3,000 Euro and never make 5,000 Euro normally.

Schakewits: a real Josef Schakewits?

Rops, from Belgium, sells on 26 June 2016 a "Schakewits" Beach scene estimated at 160 to 240 Euro.

It looks a lot like this Schakewits from Christie's from 2015 which soldfor £5,000 in 2015.

Comparison of some details shows that the Christie's one is painted a lot better. We don't know the dimensions of the Rops one though, which makes it hard to compare this.

The signatures also don't tell a lot. It is certainly quite possible that the two are by the same hand. If the Rops one is a real Josef Schakewits, then it probably is more of a study, or a more rushed work than the Christie's one, and will accordingly be worth a lot less, perhaps closer to 1,000 Euro, which is what many of his beach scenes fetched over the last few years. It has a nasty hole in it as well, which can be restored but will cost a bit extra. If it is a fake, then we might as well burn it.

UPDATE: sold for 360 Euro, I guess we'll never know if it was a bargain or a waste of money unless it reappears in a larger auction.