"Unknown, probably England" is by German Christian Leberecht Vogel

Bukowski's sells on 6 May 2015 an "unknown painter, probably England, 19th century" painting of reading children, estimated at 500 Euro and with a current bid of 200 Euro.

It actually is a (copy after a?) painting by Christian Leberecht Vogel (1759-1816), a German painter showing here his two children. Apparently some 18 versions by his own hand are known, plus copies in paint and on porcelain.

The most recent sale of an original Vogel version was in October in Germany, and went for 3,000 Euro. A very nice though smaller version (pictured) was sold at Lempertz in May 2014 for 8,500 Euro.

The version for sale seems original to me, but is damaged. Still, it should be worth something like 2,000 to 3,000 Euro probably. UPDATE: sold for 704 Euro, seems cheap!

April summary

In April, I dropped from the very fast growth in March to more realistic viewing figures. 408 In one month, or some 13 a day, is still clearly above the February average, and May had a flying start already. The global appeal of this blog is still increasing as well, with for the first time visitors from Australia, China, Lebanon, Pakistan, Portugal and Ukraine (22 different countries so far!)

Major story: an Italian School painting, which I highlighted and analyzed (but about which I had some misgivings) was estimated at $6,000 to $8,000 and sold for $144,000! Must be the first real major sleeper I blogged about (before it was known to be a sleeper of course, I posted about a few sleepers after the fact but that's somewhat easier :-D ).

I also highlight a lot of paintings which aren't really hidden treasures, but either correctly estimated but badly described, or simply overestimated. In the latter category, I'm always happy when such things fail to sell, like e.g. with these later copies or fakes. Or when they don't fetch the presale estimate of $15,000 but nearly match my estimate of $5,000 instead. But it also happens that an unrecognised Rubens copy (pictured), where I thought the estimate of $2,000 to be right, eventually sells for more than $10,000 instead, which makes you wonder what you (or the buyer) have missed.

On the other hand, some lots I thought were underestimated also didn't sell, like this British portrait in which I saw the hand of a known American painter, or these two Dutch paintings which I thought were by Jacob Toorenvliet but didn't sell at Bonham's, or this painting which I described as Van de Velde meets Rembrandt...

For my 100th post, I highlighted a sleeper Dutch portrait, which I rated quite high, certainly worth more than the 6,000 to 8,000 Euro estimate. Showing my influence and predictive abilities, the painting failed to sell...

More succesful were e.g. this old Flemish portrait, which fetched double the estimate at Rops, a Flemish School Lazarus sold in Dijon for triple the estimate (and exactly my estimate!), a Pietro Paolini at Vanderkindere that fetched twice its estimate, a Saint Helena going for three times its estimate, or a naval scene by Musin (pictured) which fetched 5 times the estimate!

My bids: I made bids on two lots. The first one, displayed above was estimated at £400 to 600, but when I recognised the author of the painting and the work it was a preparatory sketch for, I considered it to be worth more. Sadly, I wasn't the only one and it ended at £2,200. No idea whether it will appear at a major auction with the right description, or in a museum, I just hope it will be available to the scholars to study as it is important for the artist. The second one, a badly described but easily recognisable Frans Francken II, sold for its value, not for the bargain price I hoped for in vain (but which was still above the estimate!).

Ever owned a record cover?

At Doyle's of New York, they sell on 20 May 2015 a nice collection of old masters, including an "English School, 17th century" portrait, estimated at $3,000 to $6,000. UPDATE: sold for $8,500.

It is a nice, typical period portrait, not by one of the great masters but still better than most English portraits of the period. But what is unusual is that the painting has already been used as the cover of a classical music record. The "Consort Songs" by William Byrd, published by Fret Music and performed by Emma Kirkby, was released in 2005. The painting, from ca. 1630, is slightly later than the composer (1540-1623), but not considerably so. Slightly unusual is the predominantly white dress, most paintings of this period show a coloured or black dress (except for children).

For comparison, a 1629-1630 portrait by Van Dyck, showing the similar fashion for that period, and highlighting why a Van Dyck is slightly more expensive...

More similar, both in artistic quality, hairdo, and in fashion, is the above, 1630-1635 dated portrait of a lady by Jan van Ravesteyn, but it still is a better work than the one for sale.

Copy after Domenichino

At Peachtree and Bennett, from Atlanta, they sell a "18th century Italian School" musical portrait of a young woman. It is very charming (and a good size) and estimated at $2,000 to $3,000.

What the description doesn't tell is that it is a full-size copy after a famous work by Domenichino, an early 17th century "Cumaean Sibyl" from the Galleria Borghese. It is one of his most often copied works. This one should easily fetch the estimate. UPDATE: sold for only $1,200!

Copy after Rubens

At Horta, in an otherwise interesting auction on 11 May 2015 which I have blogged about a few times already, they also sell a "Flemish School, 17th century" painting titled "Het uitlaten van de kudde" ("Letting out the flock"?), estimated at 1,200 to 1,500 Euro.

I don't really get the supposed title: it is clearly an Assumption of the Virgin. Searching a bit reveals that it is a reversed (after engraving) and changed (made horizontal instead of vertical) poor copy after Rubens, his Assumption from the Kunstpalast. Not really worth the estimate, certainly not compared to other works with the same estimate like the "Ruisdael".

Prince Maurits or Frederik Hendrik?

At Doyle of New York, they sell on 20 May 2015 a "Portrait of Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau" attributed to Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt, and estimated at $2,000 to $4,000.

However, Prince Maurits (pictured above) didn't resemble this portrait at all.

The depicted is most likely his half-brother and successor Prince Frederik Hendrik of Orange-Nassau, shown here in a Michiel van Mierevelt portrait from the Rijksmuseum

The one for sale is very similar (facially spoken) , but perhaps less well painted, so a "Workshop of" Mierevelt may be more appropriate. But it is a high quality picture, of a known royal sitter, one of the best I could find for him actually (apart from the one from the Rijksmuseum), and should be worth at least $10,000, even though it is very small (24 by 18 cm). UPDATE: sold for nearly $6,000, so well above the higher estimate but clearly below my estimate.

Looking further, the RKD learns me that the Paleis het Loo, a former princely residence in the Netherlands, owns a copy of this portrait, attributed as "After Mierevelt". Of similar dimensions as the one for sale (though octogonal), it is hard to tell from the black-and-white photograph which version is the best.

The RKD also shows a different version of the same portrait, which was in the art trade in the Netherlands in 2012, as After Mierevelt. They presume that some original unknown Mierevelt must be the basis for these portraits, but deducing that the one for sale now is that original may be too optimistic. But there can clearly be no doubt about the sitter in the portrait for sale!

Copy after Guercino, Saint Peter

At Horta in Brussels, they sell on 11 May 2015 a "Dutch School, ca. 1800" Denial of Saint Peter, estimated at 2,000 to 2,500 Euro.

It looks like a typical painting in the style of Gerrit van Honthorst and the like, but it turns out to be a reversed, after engraving copy of a Denial of Saint Peter by Guercino, from the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna. In this knowledge, the one for sale seems overestimated.