"French Impressionist Lavoy" is Belgian painter Jean Laudy

Eva Aldag, from Germany, sells on 28 May 2016 a "French Impressionist, 1st half 20th c., Lavoy" estimated at 350 Euro.

It is a work by Belgian painter Jean Laudy (1877-1956, father of Jacques Laudy, collaborator of Hergé). The signature could indeed also be read as Lavoy, but both the signature and the work fit the works of Laudy perfectly. I have only found two other works by a "J. Lavoy", sold in the 90s at Bonham's, but without pictures: I wonder if they also weren't misread Laudy works.

The painting for sale fits his more early, rougher style: his later works are often more polished. He was  a very productive painter and many of his works are a bit boring, but his best works are very well composed and executed. This work, while perhaps only intended as a sketch, is attractive. His best works fetch 10,000 Euro and more, but this one will not reach these relative heights (the work shown above, "Curious after the result", sold for 2,200 Euro in 2015). It will be a success if it gets sold for 1,000 Euro, but hopefully to someone who at least will know which artist he gets.

"Old Master, 17th-18th c." is copy after Bassano

Campo, from Belgium, sells on 31 May 2016 an "Old Master, 17th / 18th century" Winter scene, estimated at 5,000 to 8,000 Euro.

It is the same composition (but in a different version) I already discussed in a post from February, then attributed to Vrancx, but in both cases a copy after one of the most popular works of Bassano. This one is slightly overestimated and will probably be worth 2,000 to 3,000 Euro instead.

"Monogrammist FW": could this be an early work by Fritz Wingen?

Sigalas, from Germany, sells on 31 May 2016 (as lot 260) a "Monogrammist FW, 1917" Adam and Eve, estimated at 150 Euro.

The only German Expressionist painter of the period who seems to match the monogram and subject matter is Fritz Wingen, a largely forgotten painter from Kempen.

Gottfried "Fritz" Wingen was born in 1889 and started working as an artist from an early age, first in his spare time while working as a teacher (from 1909 on), and later (from about 1920) as a full-time artist. He not only painted, but also worked as a sculptor and composer of classical music. He fought in the First World War and was wounded in 1915. Deeply religious, he worked mainly for churches and the like, but as an otherwise modern and freethinking artist he often clashed with the more conservative parts of (religious) society. Once the Nazis came to power, his position became untenable (with a "Berufsverbot" as early as 1933), and he was sent to prison for ten months in 1939. In 1942 he again was imprisoned as an enemy of the state and he died in a camp in 1944; likely in the gas chambers.

He was set to be included in the Catholic Martyrologium in the 1990s, but was removed from the list because he had children out of wedlock. Which apparently was more important than being willing to die as an opponent of Hitler and the Nazis. But I digress.

He was largely forgotten after the war, but in 2005 an exhibition of 100 works with accompanying book was organised in his hometown Kempen, where a street is named after him. Still, it is very hard to find any work by him online, and he doesn't appear in major sales lists (one view of Naples in 2010, and one view of Palermo in 2013).

The above is a painting by him from 1926, sold for 570 Euro.

The work for sale seems to match the description of the artist and his work perfectly. It is a deeply religious work which will have offended (and would still offend) many of the more conservative believers, but which is powerful and modern. It has a good size (86 by 75cm). It is clearly undervalued and should easily fetch 1,000 Euro to 2,000 Euro. A much better painting than anything Hitler ever produced, and by a person deserving more recognition for his art and his life.

It would be great if anyone familiar with the works of Wingen (and certainly his early works) could confirm that this is indeed by him. It's a good painting in any case, but it's so much better if one can put a name to a work of art.

UPDATE: it apparently sold for 1,300 Euro, good to see this get the monetary recognition it deserves

"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 

Reduced activity

Due to a number or circumstances, I'll post less in the next few weeks. I seem to encounter not so many inteersting paintings (despite there being enough auctions in May), and don't have the time to adequately research the ones that might be a good blog subject.

I'll try to post as often as I can, but I prefer no new posts to uninteresting ones (like this one). It's a bit sad, because my number of readers is still growing, but I hope you'll come back once I have again a bit more to say.

"Ecce Homo" by unknown artist

Galerie Bassenge, from Berlin, sells on 27 May 2016 a "German, 16th century" Ecce Homo estimated at 6,000 Euro.

It has the date 1509 and an AD (Albrecht Durer) monogram, which is correctly not given any importance by the auctioneer as this is not some unknown Dürer painting.

However, it is a well-accomplished work which I would situate in Antwerp instead of in Germany. The work is hard to place with one specific artist, it has elements from everyone from Bosch over Francken to Massys, but so far an actual name or school escapes me.


This one warrants further attention and may well be worth a lot more than the estimate in the end.

Could this 19th c. drawing sold by Cambi be a major Raphael sleeper?

Cambi, from Italy, sold last week an "Italian School, early 19th century" large (100 by 84 cm) drawing "in the Renaissance style", estimated at 400 to 500 Euro.

Instead, it sold for 40,000 Euro.

So, what could be the reason? Well, the sitter and her pose look suspiciously like a Raphael portrait, "La Donna Gravida", from the Palazzo Pitti. The drawing is obviously done by a very skilled artist (and the estimate was very low in any case, even for a random 19th century drawing of this quality). Could this be a real Raphael, completely misjudged by the auction house? It seems quite possible, without having handled the actual work (and not having seen e.g. the back of it), and in that case this is a major find and at 40K a major bargain for whoever spotted it and took the risk.

Perhaps it will reappear in a few months or years time and we will know more then. For now, it is just nice to speculate a bit.