"Attributed to Peter van Bredael" is copy after Andreas Martin

Sarl May, from France, sells on 17 October 2016 an "Attributed to Peter van Bredael (1629-1719)" theatre in the village market place, estimated at 2,500 to 3,500 Euro. (Lot 144 in this online catalogue).

The same work was, according to the RKD, sold by Phillips of London in 1997 as "Peter van Bredael".

At first I thought it was by a follower of Theobald Michau, as the whole scene and especially the street theatre showed remarkable similarities with the more famous painting by Michau of the same subject.

While such influence is still a possibility, I meanwhile have found that many other paintings of the subject show similar theatres (though most are somewhat more remote cousins). Late 17th century examples from the RKD are by Matthijs Neveu and Gerrit Berkheyde.

But this search unexpectedly lead me to the real origin of this painting. It is a simplified version of a work by Brussels artist Andreas Martin (1699-1763) from ca. 1725 (according to the RKD) or 1750 (according to Christie's, where it was sold in 2009 for £10,000). (Work for sale and a detail from the Martin given for comparison).

Theoretically it could have been another painter painting a similar scene from the same vantagepoint, but having the same theatre at the same spot, with the same principal actor in black (and the same man with cello on the right side and pointing man on the left side of the stage), and the same watchful girl with vegetables in the front right, is just a bit too much...

All this means that it can't be by Peeter van Bredael, and it doesn't look good enough to be by Martin. So, a mid- to late 18th century copy after Andreas Martin in a 17th century style. Value? Certainly not more than the estimate, I guess. But charming nonetheless.

"Attributed to Schut" = Copy after Schut

Horta, from Brussels, sells on 17 October 2016 a "17th c. Antwerp School, attributed to Cornelis Schut" Susanna and the Elders, estimated at 15,000 to 25,000 Euro.

The original version of this work was sold at Sotheby's in 2004 for £128,000, and then in 2008 pre-restauration for sale at Jacques Leegenhoek, and art dealer in Paris. It has since been sold to the Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels.

The work for sale now clearly isn't by Schut, but a later, somewhat more academic copy (e.g. the folds of the clothing are much more stylized and stiff). I'm not certain it isn't a recent copy either, but asuming it is old (18th or 19th century), it should be worth around 10,000 Euro.

UPDATE: not sold, the estimate was indeed a bit too high.

"17th century Dutch scientist": this probably is Christiaan Huygens

Artcurial Lyon, France, sells on 8 October 2016 as lot 114 a "Dutch School, 17th century, circle of Caspar Netscher" portrait of a scientist, a relatively small work (39 by 31 cm) estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 Euro.

Considering its scale, it's rather well painted and worth the estimate on that basis, but this time I'm more interested in the sitter.

We can see on the left side of the painting a globe (probably a celestial globe), a telescope, what looks like a a microscope, and some other scientific instruments. In this period (second half of the 17th century), there were two important scientists in the Netherlands active with these things: Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632 - 1723), father of the microscope but not busy with telescopes; and Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695).

Huygens worked with telescopes, discovered the moon Titan, and invented a time of eyepiece for telescopes (which may be the supposed micrscope in the painting).

There are only two portraits of Huygens as an adult made during his life known at the moment, as far as I know. One is a painting by Netscher from 1671, the other an engraving of an unknown date. The painting we have here seems to be somewhat later than the Netscher painting, ca. 1680. It ha the same long nose, the same somewhat rounded, fleshy face, and the same pronounced chin (though the one for sale lacks the cleft in the chin).

He also resembles his younger brother (and telescope maker) Constantijn Huygens Jr., who is thus also a possible but to me less likely sitter.

I contacted the Rijksmuseum about this painting (the Netherlands doesn't have a National Portrait Gallery as such), but so far haven't gotten a reply (not that they have had that much time since my mail to them), and with this auction nearby, I post it here now anyway to save this one from obscurity (assuming my identification is correct).

If this really is Huygens, one of the greatest Dutchmen ever and with only one other portrait painting known, it should be worth loads more than the estimate, and it wouldn't surprise me if with that description it fetched 20,000 Euro.

UPDATE: sold for 3,203 Euro. If my theory is right, someone got a good bargain. I haven't heard anything from the Dutch museums I contacted, either before or after the sale, which is a bit disappointing.  Perhaps it will resurface in the near future!

"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.

"J. Doré": I hoped for Gustave, but it is a Jacques Doré

Horta, Brussels, sells on 17 October 2016 a "J. Doré, French School" landscape, estimated at 500 to 700 Euro.

The signature to me looked closer to a G than a J, so I first thought of Gustave Doré, the famous illustrator (one of the best ever) who als painted landscapes, but his signature is different and his landscapes somewhat more conservative (the one for sale has more Van Gogh-like clouds, which Gustave would never do).

Looking further for possible matches brought me to Jacques Doré (1861-1929), less famous and valuable but still interesting.

Many sites (e.g. Artvalue) give him as "French", but Jacques Doré was a Belgian, which also explains why most of his works appear on the market in Belgium. A lengthy biography can be found in the "Biographie Coloniale Belge"; born in Antwerp, died in Halle, worked in Belgian Congo from late 1891 until 1892 (catching hepatitis, which was still a relatively happy end as most of his co-travelers died). Lived at the Canaries in 1892-1893, then returned to Belgium where he lived as an artist (mainly landscapes). His health never fully recovered,  he died in 1929.

Strangely enough, despite being described as a landscape painter (which is confirmed by this work), I couldn't find a lot of landscapes by him in auction results, and the few I found were unsold. His works fetch prices from 100 Euro to £7,000, so that's not much to base an estimation on either.

I guess, with a name attached to it, it might make 1,000 Euro, but anything beyond that would be a surprise.

UPDATE: sold for 460 Euro, a bit less than I expected.

"Italian School" is School of Aniello Falcone

Châtivesle, from France, sells on 9 October 2016 an "Italian School, first half of the 17th century" village concert, estimated at 4,000 to 6,000 Euro (page 3 of the pdf catalogue, or until the auction is finished at Interenchères with some further information).

It is a work in the tradition of Titian, Domenichino and Spada, but the actual example and perhaps artist for this one is Aniello Falcone  (1600-1656), a Neapolitan best known for battle scenes. The above "Concert" by him is very close in composition, but more restrained, much less bawdy.

The painting doesn't look to be good enough to be by Falcone (although it could do with a good cleaning). Perhaps we should look at slightly later painters like Bernhard Keil / Bernardo Monsu (1624-1687), a Danish painter working in Italy who has made some similar compositions.

The estimate seems about right but is a bit of a gamble considering the condition of the painting.

UPDATE: sold for 22,000 Euro! I wonder if the buyer also considers it related to Falcone or Monsu.

"Signed drawing" is actually an early colour-printed photograph by noted amateur

Rops, from Belgium, sells on 10 October 2016 a "Drawing of a lady, signed" estimated at 80 to 120 Euro.

It is actually a photograph by Vicomte (Viscount) Paul de Singly (1844-1912), a noted amateur photographer mainly active during the last 10 years of his life. This photograph has all the necessary information to find this on the back of the work: it is a 2-colour study with fat inks, exhibited at the Photo-Club de Paris.

A large lot of his photographs was sold at Gros Delettrez (France) in 2008. A self-portrait fetched 450 Euro and a portrait (pictured) went for 380 Euro. Most other works went for a lot less, but were generally less interesting than these two. None of them were in colour.

Comparing the model to other photos by Singly, published in "Die Kunst der Photographie" in 1907, suggest a similar date for this work (photo and info courtesy of a Photoseed collection).

The portrait for sale is a very strong image, and the experimental technique and the fact that it was exhibited only increase the appeal. I would estimate it at 300 to 400 Euro.

UPDATE: sold for 80 Euro, seems very cheap to me.