"Eva van Marle" is much too weak to be by her

Venduhuis de Eland, from the Netherlands, sells on 15 September (today!)  a double portrait by "Eva van Marle (active ca. 1650)", probably the wings of a triptych, estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 Euro. (More images and the estimate can be found at Lottisimo, but not on the website of the Venduehuis apparently?

This introduced me to Eva van Marle, one of the relatively few 17th century woman painters we know by name and have some work from. She only painted portraits (as far as we know), all of them ca. 1650. So far, this fits relatively well with the work for sale (although if she really only painted portraits, the central panel of the triptych has to have been made by someone else probably). But the quality of the works by her listed at e.g. the RKD is a lot higher than what is presented here, and no other indication of why this is attributed to her is given (signature? Family tradition? A name on the back of the panels?). Comparing the above detail, which shows a third rate painter, with the portraits which are definitely by her and show a very skilled hand, I doubt that the work for sale is by her, and consider the estimate to be way too high.

By the way, they charge a 30% buyer's fee, plus 2% online fee, which is really getting quite absurd (are auctions the only shops where you have to pay more when you buy online?). Why can't auctions simply let you pay whatever you offer, and deduct their costs and profit from what they give to the seller? It seems as if they are deliberately being difficult, which is offputting to many people (and then they wonder why not more people bid at auction probably). 

"Manner of Jean Fouquet" is copy after Fra Angelico

Deutsch, from Vienna, Austria, sells on 27 September 2016 a Lot 009 a "Manner of Jean Fouquet" watercolour on parchment on oak panel Death of a Bishop or Saint, estimated very widely at 600 to 1,800 Euro.

The work has nothing to do with Jean Fouquet and is a close copy after Fra Angelico, the "Death of Saint Nicholas" from the National Gallery of Umbria, in Perugia. It's a work from about 1450, so at least the date was right for Fouquet...

As a probably very recent copy, it's only worth decorative value, if that.

A later copy of a Rogier van der Weyden

Rhône-Alpes auctions, from France, sells on 15 October 2016 an "Antwerp School, 16th century, follower of Van der Weyden" Descent of the Cross, estimated at 12,000 to 15,000 Euro.

It is yet another copy of the work I discussed more extensively in a post from March this year. The way the flesh and colours are represented in the version for sale now indeed points to a somewhat later version, which makes it a very interesting example of how long a few famous works of the early 15th century Flemish painters continued to be copied by skilled artists. This is especially clear in the face of John the Evangelist to the left. One wonders whether painters from the school of Massys were responsible for these copies.

The estimate would normally be too steep for a copy, but this is an iconic, early work, and a very good copy, done by a skilled master, so I guess the price is about right. With some cleaning (if it needs cleaning) or some restoration (if it has been slightly overcleaned already, hard to tell from the picture), one would get a very good looking, well-preserved work in return.

Note that in what is on the one hand a remarkable coincidence, and on the other hand evidence of the number of times this work wsa copied, there are now two other versions of this work at auction. One is the above shown version which was sold in March already, but somehow is again for sale already on 22 September 2016 at Hampel with a 20,000 to 25,000 Euro estimate.

The other comes on the market at Ruef (lot 129), another German auction house I haven't encountered yet. It is a somewhat more amateuristic copy than the other two, but still fairly close to the original and reasonably well executed. Estimated at 3,500 Euro, it is an affordable way to get a presumably 16th c. copy of a Van der Weyden at your wall.

UPDATE: the French version went for 24,000 Euro, double the estimate: the Hampel and Ruef ones were unsold.

Update 2: the Ruef one is again for sale on 28 April 2017 with the same 3,500 Euro estimate.

"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.

"Saint Jerome with a nude man" is a Creation of Man (triptych wing)

Pousse Cornet, from Blois, France, sells on 6 November 2016 a "Flemish School, late 16th century" panel painting of "Saint Jerome with a nude man", estimated at 4,000 to 5,000 Euro.

Their catalogue isn't available yet on their own webpage, but can be seen on interenchères already. The image for sale is the main image of the sale apparently, as it is the one depicted on their webpage at the announcement of the sale.

The sad thing is that it isn't a "Saint Jerome with a nude man", but a "God creating Adam" instead. The depiction of God as a pope (with the triple tiara) is unusual, hence the misinterpretation, but it isn't unique for paintings of the period. It can e.g. be seen in a miniature by Simon Bening whch somewhat resembles the painting for sale, and most famously perhaps in the Ghent Altarpiece of course.

The misinterpretation is also due to the lion at the feet of God (a common attribute of Saint Jerome is the lion at his feet); here it is not connected to the person above, but to the sheep on the left, depicting the lamb and the lion lying peacefully together in Eden. In the background one can also see a unicorn and a camel

Remarkably, the work for sale has also a painted reverse, a grisaille of Abraham kneeling before the three angels. Considering that this is the announcement of a son, and that the other side shows a creation of man, and also taking into account that this side is in grisaille, it seems highly likely that this painting is the wing of  a triptych, probably with a nativity or adoration as the central panel (no idea what could be on the other wing though, perhaps a creation of Eve and a John the Baptist?). The grisaille is the closed side, the creation of man is the opened side.

This work is 100 by 72 cm, so the central panel will have been about 160 by 100 cm, and the total width of the triptych when opened will have been about 320 cm (frame included). Not cathedral size, but far from a private devotional work and quite an impressive work probably. The quality is not really consistent, the Adam is the best part, and I'm not convinced that front and back are by the same painter.

I can not find a single triptych with this kind of subject though, so either this one is rather original, or I'm just inventing things and this is a standalone work which just happens to have been painted both sides... But gloomy works like the triptych by Vrancke Vanderstockt (picture from the RKD), from the late 15th century, or an anonymous one from 1540 (info at RKD as well), seem to suggest a possibility of similar but more upbeat triptychs as well.

The closest thematically is probably the 1587 triptych by Bernaert de Rijckere from Kortrijk (picture from the RKD again), which has a creation of Adam on the left side. The reverse grisaille don't have a story-painting though but statue-like images). This triptych is 330 by 285 cm, so my suggested size seems plausible as well.

Whether the other panels still exist is not known to me, having either some provenance or an artist for this panel might help. The style is close to the works of Coxie and Frans Floris, or even Maerten van Heemskerck, but is by neither of those, and more likely by a slightly later follower of them (I should be able to pinpoint the artist better than this, but it eludes me for the moment). But despite this, the estimate seems about right, and in return you get a painting where you can do a lot of research over the next few years to try to find out more about it.

 UPDATE: the Adam seems to be related to an Adam and Eve by Jacob de Backer (ca. 1540-1600), an Antwerp Mannerist. The Adam and Eve is for sale at Dorotheum on 18 October 2016, estimated at 40,000 to 60,000 Euro. (sold for €54,620!)

UPDATE 2: the auction house has now updated the description to give the correct subject, and an attribution to "Pourbus".  No indication which Pourbus this is supposed to be (presumably Frans the Elder). Still no estimate either.

Laundry day

Bruno Roquigny, from Saint-Valéry-en-Caux, in France, sells on "1 January" an "Exceptional German painting", without further information so far.

It looks to be a very early listing, hence the lack of information, the strange date, and the fact that there are so far only two items in the auction.

But the painting nevertheless looks very interesting indeed. Late medieval depictions of laundry day, or the belaching of the linen, are fairly rare (most everyday acticities are rarely depicted, and those of women more so than those of men). They usually appear in series of the months of the year (or the seasons), and this one probably is no different.

The closest example I could find was from the "Splendor Solis", a German alchemy text from the early 1530s. The painting seems to date from about the same time, which would make it a very early work of this kind. Of course, it may equally be a hundred years more recent, things didn't change that fast in these days. The style is somewhat naive but at the same time rather accomplished, with enough individualism in the faces, clothing and poses to make it captivating and life-like. It may well be German, as indicated by the auctioneer, but Flemish or Dutch seem equally possible. I see no possibility to attach a name to it, it has some resemblance to the works of e.g. Jörg Breu and other German painters of Monatsbilder (depictions of the months), but it is far from close enough to be by him.

Considering the scarcity of these paintings, and the quality and detail in it, I would estimate this at 8,000 Euro, despite the lack of a name or pure artistic quality.

UPDATE:  the listing has now been completed. The st January date remains, but an artist and estimate are added.Wolfgang Heimbach (1605-1678), washing at Christiania (Copenhague), estimated at ... 60,000 to 80,000 Euro! So a hundred years later and ten times as expensive as my expectations :-)

UPDATE 2: sold for 62,000 Euro, good estimate by the auctioneer.

"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.