2018 – Winter Catalogue
Winter Catalogue 2018
5
Emile Claus Sint-Eloois-Vijve 1849 – 1924 Astene
▲ De Leye h|w
51 x 61 cm work
Oil on canvas Signed lower left and dated 1899
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▶ Soleil levant h|w
140 x 133 cm work
Oil on canvas Signed lower left Text on the reverse 'fébruari J.C. E.C.
Given the dimensions of the work and the inscriptions on the back – February 1903 – we can assume that Claus exhibited the painting at least twice. The first time at his personal exhibition in the spring of 1905 (Exposition de tableaux par Emile Claus, tent, cat, Brussels, Cercle Artistique et Littéraire, 8 - 30 April 1905, approx. 24: Soleil levant (Février)), the second time at the Kunst van Heden exhibition (tent, Antwerp, [Academy, Venusstraat], 22 July - 15 September 1905, category 178: Soleil levant (Février)). Perhaps he also exhibited it in Paris at the Société nationale des beaux-arts in 1907, where he showed a 'Soleil levant' (Société nationale des beaux-arts, catalog of the paintings, sculpture, design, engraving, architecture and objets d' art exposés au Grand-Palais (avenue d'Antin), le 14 avril au 30 juin 1907, tent, cat, Evreux, Rev. Hérissey, 1907, cat 274: Soleil levant). In his overview of the exhibition,
the Ghent critic Frédéric de Smet discusses the 'Salle II', and talks about: 'Harmonie gris-bleu. Une agréable surprise nous y attend. Deux Claus splendides arrêtent tous ceux qui veulent franchir le seuil de la porte. On saurait passer sans admirer cette délicieuse finesse de couleur du "Soleil levant" et du "Chataignier" [comp. La Boverie, Liège]. Ces deux nouvelles toiles du maître d'Astene sont deux chefs-d'œuvre de plus à ajouter à la liste des merveilles artistiques dont peut s'enorgueillir notre école de peinture. "Octave Maus also cites both works briefly in his criticism of the exhibition: 'Les Artistes Belges au Salon de Paris', in: L' Art Moderne, Bruxelles, XXVII (7 July 1907) 27, p. 211: 'Parmi les peintres, on admira surtout Mr. Emile Claus, dont le Soleil levant et le Châtaignier évoquent avec une poésie intense la sérénité de la vie agreste, (...). ' — Text by Johan De Smet (MSK Gent)
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Albert Saverys Deinze 1886 – 1964 Deinze
The Leye
h|w
50,5 x 50,5 cm work
Oil on canvas Signed and dated lower left verso label 'Museum van Deinze en de Leiestreek, Deinze expositie 'Schilders van het Leieland' septemberdag 1915
Valerius de Saedeleer Aalst 1867 – 1941 Leupegem
The old farm h|w
26,5 x 31 cm work
Oil on canvas Signed lower left
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Emile Claus Sint-Eloois-Vijve 1849 – 1924 Astene
The Leye – 1912
h|w
43 x 59,5 cm work
Oil on canvas Signed lower left verso: Juny A.B. E.C.
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LÊon De Smet Gent 1881 – 1966 Deurle
The Leie painted near Deurle
10
h|w
work
66,5 x 63,5 cm
Oil on canvas, Signed lower left and dated 1914
Maurice Sys Gent 1880 – 1972
Harbour view
h|w
work
literature
81 x 95 cm
Oil on canvas Signed lower right (to be dated 1915)
Sint-Martens-Latem en de kunst aan de Leie 1870 – 1970, Johan De Smet, p. 135
11
Paul Mathieu Sint-Joost-ten-Noode 1872 – 1932 Brussels
A boat on the Samber
h|w
work
111 x 115 cm
Oil on canvas, Signed lower right
12
Fernand Toussaint Brussels 1873 – 1955
Dancing nymph
h|w
235 x 92 cm work
Oil on canvas Signed lower left provenance
Illawala House near Poulton-le-Fylde (Lancashire) built for C.V. Haworth
13
Firmin Girard Poncin 1838 – 1921 Montluçon
The boat trip
h|w
54,5 x 73 cm work
Oil on canvas Signed lower left
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Sold at Drouot, 18 November 2017 for 250.000 euro
Henri Rousseau Ciro 1875 – 1933 Aix-en-Provence
The Sultan of Morocco
h|w
20 x 16 cm work
Oil on panel Signed lower left
15
Jacob Jordaens Antwerp 1593 – 1678 Antwerp
The wise man and the jester
Together with Peter Paul Rubens and Sir Anthony Van Dijck, Jacob Jordaens was part of a triumvirate of leading Flemish 17th century baroque painters. He specialized in religious commissions, in scenes from Greek and Roman mythology and, uniquely amongst the three artists, in moralizing tales filled with ebullient contemporary figures or faces, be they jokers, drunken carnival kings or merry flute and bagpipe players. The present work is a fine creation by the master in the latter category, of which the most famous examples aren’t the several iconic versions he produced relating to “Zo de Ouden Zongen, zo Pijpen de Jongen” (“As the Old Sang, so the Young Twitter”), today exhibited amongst others in the National Galleries of Belgium and Canada. Seen by the spectator from within an interior, a leaded glass window is pushed open by an amusing man who is standing outside and leans on the windowsill. From his red and yellow hat with bells, the so-called motley, and the jester stick in his distorted left hand, he can readily be identified as the Jester or Fool. His sympathetic human smile and sheer physical closeness draw us irresistibly into the scene. Behind this jester, a more serious man can be seen, dressed in a brown jacket with a small white collar, a black cap and 17th century reading glasses. He holds a book in his hands as a sign of his wisdom and intellectual status. This Wise Man reads intently and pays no attention to the fool nor to the viewer, in fact not to the real world at all. The whole creates a brilliantly enjoyable, intriguing contrast. It spontaneously evokes the question: who is really the wiser man of the two, who the real fool?
fig 1
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h|w
work
95 x 75 cm
Oil on canvas, Signed
From a posterior rendering by Antonie Leemans of a similar plot after this Jordaens composition (but with a text, and from various other subject matters by Jordaens himself such as Aesop’s The Satyr and the Peasant, who confusingly with one breath blows fire hot and soup cold) it is believed Jordaens is subtly conveying to us to be suspicious of the far-fetched book wisdom of world wary proclaimed “wise men”; and that instead the frank talk of a fool may hold much more common sense and truth, thus real wisdom, than the doctored speeches of the book lover. Jordaens’ ideal of knowledge is the Socratic one, he or she who accepts to know little is the wisest! The presently exhibited work contains many lovely and carefully executed details such as the subtle rendering of the Jester’s hands, face contortions, hat or the puppet face at the end of his staff. And it includes typical Jordaens features such as the framing of the picture within the picture, the accentuation of characters by bringing them to the foreground, the representation of reading glasses, the almost caricature like “tronies” or faces and the trademark J JOR signature. With this finely executed and lightly ironising The Wise Man and The Fool, Jacob Jordaens has succeeded in creating a highly enjoyable art work that still looks amazingly modern and relevant a full 350 years after its conception. On stylistic grounds the work can likely be dated as a mature work from the 1650’s, a period after the 1648 Münster religious peace treaty for the divided Netherlands in which the secretly protestant Jordaens could more freely develop moralizing tales for his own enjoyment or for Dutch or German customers in the northern market; during which time he produced magnificent ceiling decorations north of the Flemish border for the Amsterdam Town Hall, today’s Dam Palace. Within the oeuvre of Jordaens the present painting importantly appears to be the unique and first prototype of this exact composition, no other versions are known. The two figures can however be found in slightly altered form in a crowd on the side of the well-known canvas “Diogenes in Search of a Man” in the Gemäldegalerie in Dresden and in a few drawings recorded by Professor D’Hulst, underscoring their significance and prominent existence in Jordaens’ model list. There are several other Jordaens’ canvases or wall decorations known in which he combines a fool with other male or female personalities, for instance “Jester with a Merry Woman and Cat in a Window” in the former Porges collection at Paris or the “Susannah” in the Copenhagen Museum of Fine Arts. Thus the present work fits from an iconographic and style perspective nicely into this allegorical subspecialty of the painter.
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The Dutch artist Anthony Leemans (1631-1673) produced around 1670 a similar composition after Jordaens, today held by the Staatliches Museum Schwerin, with an explanatory text in 17th century Dutch in the Fool’s hands :
religious works, for densely populated mythological canvases, but also for outlandish daily life moralizing genre scenes. He designed tapestry and decorated a number of European palaces with ceiling and wall panels.
“Ick ben de Sot en voer de kap Van geel en blauw soo is de lap Maer siet den wijse met sijn bril Die doe ten laet een sot sijn wil Maar echter soo sijn wijsheijt dwaelt Sijn Muelen vrij wat herder maelt Daerom soorsiet niet alteveel Soo blijft u wijsheijt int geheel Te veel gesocht daer nae bedaght Heeft meenight inde kap gebraght.”
Today his works can be found in numerous major European museums, the Antwerp and Brussels Royal Museums, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Paris Louvre and Lille Museum, the London National Gallery, the Vienna Gemäldegallerie, the Hamburg, Kassel, Cologne, Dresden, Stuttgart, Berlin and Munich museums in Germany, the St Petersburg Hermitage and Poesjkin Museum in Moscow, the Madrid Prado, the Milan Pinacoteca and the Palazzo Pitti and Uffizi in Florence, the Stockholm, Goteborg, Oslo and Copenhagen national galleries in Scandinavia. In the Americas the artist is amongst others represented in the New York Metropolitan Gallery, the Washington National Gallery of Art, the Chicago Art Institute, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and in the Ottawa National Gallery of Canada.
The picture has been held over the past 200 years in a number of prestigious or significant private collections, its ownership or whereabouts can be traced back to the early 19th century. It has not been available for viewing or purchase in the Benelux for over 150 years and not in Europe for a few generations. The present work is almost certainly the painting described and catalogued in detail as by Jacob Jordaens, lot 44, in the estate sale of the deceased Professor and avid Old Masters collector Jan Karel van Rotterdam, who was known to possess works by Rubens, Jordaens and Van Dijck. This estate sale took place on July 6, 1835 at Ghent, Belgium under the auspices of Legal Executors Mr De Porre and Mr Verhulst. According to an annotated catalogue copy in the National Library of Belgium at Brussels, the estate sale buyer was a Belgian private collector De Koning. The 1835 Ghent catalogue description reads as follows: ”Devant une fenetre ouverte se trouvent deux personnes vues a mi-corps et de grandeur naturelle. Le premier affable des attributs de la folie, rit aux éclats et d’une maniere si naturelle, que le spectateur ne peut s’empecher de partager sa joie. Derriere lui un veillard lit tres attentivement. Cette composition bizarre et remarquable par la force du coloris est d’une touche ferme et hardie.”
fig 2, The jester with a cat
An ancient label on the back of the stretcher puts the picture thereafter in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s in the elaborate and important Old Masters collection of Bradbourne Hall in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England, seat of the Buxton family. It appeared around the 1950’s in the private collection of the London based art dealer H.M. Clark and, upon his death, in the 1970’s and 1980’s in the Sacred Arts Center of the Elna M Smith Foundation in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA. Since the early 1990’s until to date it has been in a gentleman’s private picture collection. Jacob – or in French: Jacques - Jordaens was born in Antwerp in 1593 and died there in 1678. At a young age he joined the local St Lucas’ painters guild and from the 1620s onwards became one of the most renowned Flemish baroque artists. He received numerous commissions from churches and cathedrals, from royal patrons like King Charles I of England, Filip IV of Spain and Queen Christina of Sweden or from governments like the Dutch Republic. He was known for colourful large altar pieces and
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fig 3, Diogenes Searching for an Honest Man
provenance
27 x 22 cm
Collection Schonborn, Château de Pommersfelden, 1867 Galerie Sedelmeyer, Paris, 1892 Fernand Adda, Paris, 1965 Galerie Richard Green, London, 1976 Galerie Dejonckheere, 2011
work
literature
Oil on panel Signed lower left
confirmed by Magaret Klinge RKD image nr 38247
h|w
David Teniers Antwerp 1610 – 1690 Brussels
Tavern scene
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Franz Kessler Wetzlar 1580 – Danzig 1650
h|w
Portrait of a young Prussian woman
103,5 x 83,5 cm work
Oil on canvas circa 1645 Old labels on verso side: “Autor: Pourbus, Título: Retrato de dama, 103 84 IX 1970” and “Etiqueta del Servicio de Defensa del Patrimonio Artístico Nacional, fotografiado el 22 – 11 – 29”.
A real connoisseur will immediately link this stunning quality portrait to the 17th century Netherlands, however, will also notice that this young Lady’s superb silk and lace costume is not completely of Netherlandish origin. Her black silk veil hemmed with lace directly draws attention. At first instance one might think that this young woman is into mourning. Today this female wardrobe item surely is associated with grief. However, during the 17th century this part of a woman’s costume was not only worn within such a sad context. On the contrary, this veil might even have been a sign of a betrothal. The veil resembles a so called falie, a fashion item once worn by Netherlandish women in the 17th century during their daily outings. A falie is rarely seen on painted portraits though and as the costume is not Netherlandish, the origin of this portrait has to be sought elsewhere in Europe.
Wenceslaus Hollar, 1643-44, 'Autumn' and 'Summer'
The black veil and the unusual shape of her dress, which consists out of a pourpoint (a man’s jacket or doublet) and a skirt with underskirts leads us to Eastern Europe and more specifically to the then powerful Hanseatic city of Danzig (Gdansk or Danswijck in Dutch). Danzig is now part of Poland, but during the 17th century it was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Between 1632 and 1648 Władysław IV Vasa was its leader entitled both King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. The city of Danzig was only formally subjugated by him though and operated almost completely autonomously. Many inhabitants of the Commonwealth and more specifically of Danzig with its large seaport were German and Netherlandish immigrants. Portraits of Ladies from Gdansk and the Prussian region during the 1640’s show similar shapes of dress and even seem to show their sitter with black veils/hats. A bit different in our portrait is the shape of the veil though. It seems to be a fashion item that balances between the Netherlandish falie and the Polish headdress which rather seems to have been a solid woman’s hood instead of a light black coif. On the prints by Wenceslas Hollar one can see that during the 17th century in the (Southern) Netherlands the falie was often worn with tips tied. It is remarkable though that the costume of these female sitters show similarities to our portrait, however, the execution of these paintings seems to be of lower quality than our portrait. This rises the suspicion that the portrait’s origin should be sought after in a place in Poland where a mix of influences and cultures was present. The Hanseatic city of Danzig with its seaport seems to have been this place. During the 17th century this city’s economy flourished through trade. This prosperity attracted wealthy patricians and merchants from the Low Countries and Germany. Through the import of luxury goods and artworks from the Low Countries and even through its building activity, this city developed a unique Netherlandish character. Polish artists were under influence of both the artworks that were imported as the artists
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that were attracted to Danzig. In addition, the Polish King and his supporters (e.g. the noblemen Lukasz. Opalinski and Adam Kazakowski) definitely had an influence on this mechanism. Władysław IV Vasa attracted Netherlandish artists to his court. Painters Pieter Danckertsz. de Rij (1605-1661) en Frans Luyckx (1604-1668) were amongst them. Furthermore Vasa sat for great Antwerp masters as Rubens en Van Dyck during his journeys through the Netherlands. During the 1640’s Netherlandish paintings and more specifically portraits in Netherlandish style were very much on trend. In Danzig, people could order their portrait by specialists as Pieter Danckerts, Bartholomäus Strobel and Franz Kessler. All three were immigrants. In the work of the Silesian painter Bartholomäus Strobel (1591-after 1647) the same type of lace as the young lady in our portrait is wearing can be recognized. This type of lace could not be detected in portraits made in The Netherlands. Moreover, through our research it was remarkable to see that this type of lace could only be traced on sitters in portraits of Silesian and Prussian origin. Another portrait that shows this type of lace was painted by an anonymous Polish artist depicting the Polish King in coronation robes. The style of these portraits however, does not match the painting style of our portrait. Our portrait is most probably the masterpiece by the hand of painter Franz Kessler. Kessler was of German origin, however, was trained by the Southern Netherlandish painter Gortzius Geldorp (1553-1618) who moved to Cologne and over there trained the young Kessler. This definitely clarifies the Netherlandish feel of the portrait even as its fine quality. The style of our portrait of a young lady definitely is reminiscent of those by Geldorp, even more when the morphological elements are considered. Furthermore it might seem that Kessler used a portrait pattern which found its origin by his former master in order to create this portrait. The largest part of Kessler’s career took place in and around the Rhineland near Cologne in Germany where he portrayed the ‘beau-monde’ and wealthy merchants. Some of his portraits are kept at the Wallraff-Richartz Museum in Cologne, others can be found in the Szépmüvészeti Art Museum of Budapest and in the Berkshire Museum Pittsfield US. Kessler was chased out of Germany by the Thirty Years’ war after 1635. His only identified portrait from his active period in Danzig represents the officer Nikolaus Konstantin Giese which dates from 1642. The portraits stands out amongst the other portraits produced in Danzig at that time by its quality and the softness of the painter’s hand. This portrait is still kept in Poland at the Wilanów Palace Museum in Warsaw. The way the painter handled the lace as well as the way he represented the silver silk and embroideries in the costume is very similar to our portrait. Continuously the delicate treatment of the facial features tells us that we are dealing with the same hand. It is sure that the young lady on our portrait was of a very well to do family. The fabrics and accessories of her dress are very expensive, consisting out of silk, silver and gold wire, pearls, lace, a veil with the very expensive black dyed lace, and jewels in passementerie (bows and rosette). The fact that she has a feather in her hand definitely shows the influence of Netherlandish fashion. It is known that Franz Kessler worked for the wealthy
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Bartholomäus Strobel, portrait of Wilhelma Orsettiego h. Złotokłos
Comparison of the lace between the Strobel portrait and our portrait
noble Opalinski family from Greater Poland province c. 1641 who were known to be fashionable. It is very well possible that a lady from this family is depicted here on our portrait during the mid-1640's. We suggest Zofia Opalinska (1620-1657) as a possible candidate for the sitter as her features are very close to the lady in our portrait.
Coffin portrait of Zofia Opalinska 1660.
Portrait of Nikolaus Konstantin Giese, oil on canvas, 1642, 129 x 84 cm, Wilanรณw Palace Museum
Similarities in the gaze, the subtile smile and the overall expression. The lace of the veil is definitely by the same hand as the lace in the collar of the young German girl.
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Flemish School To be dated ca. 1510
Portrait of Jean Wouters (†1516)
This painting most likely represents Jean Wouters, it's painted on wood with an arched top. The portrait is presented in its original full frame which shows the text „DE LEAIGE / DE LXX+”, on top, together with the coat of arms of the family Wouters: a chevron gules between three green parrots with five Fleur de lys. The inscription „… VC … W” is written on the underside of the wooden frame. The painting is a very well preserved work of excellent quality from the Flemish school of the first quarter of the 16th century. The counterpart of this diptych could well be the portrait of Guarin de Beste, father of Jean Wouters’ wife, Jossine de Beste. According to Mrs. C. Van den Bergen-Pantens, scientific assistant at the Primitive Flemish Research Center, the two characters were buried in a communal cemetery in the church of St. Martin van Ackerghem, near Ghent. This cemetery not only protected these two knights, but also their children Jean Wouters and his wife Jossine de Beste, daughter of Guarin. The paintings were placed in the family safe as was usual. After the pillaging of the church by beggars in 1567, they were most probably kept safe in the Ghent region, since they can be found in the collection Huyvetter in 1900. The hinge markings placed on the left of the frame are at the same height as those found on the portrait of Guarin de Beste. For this reason, art historians W. Bode and M.J. Friedländer both date it from the second half of the 15th century. A second, more likely possibility is that this panel is the right part of a diptych whose left part probably represented the wife of the model, named Jossine de Beste, daughter of a palatine count of the Lateran Palace and the Imperial Consistory. The trace marks of the remaining hinges indicate this. The man depicted in the portrait is well in to his 70s, so is his coat of arms. Art historian Hulin de Loo identified this as that of the Wouters family. The consultation of The Illustrated General Armorial of J.B. Rietstap makes it possible to confirm that these are the arms of Wouters of Vinderhoute, Flanders. Given the age of the model and the approximate date of the panel, between 1470 and 1500, the portrayed man may possibly be Jean Wouters, president of the Chamber of Accounts of Lille, a member of a family from the country of Waes. The inscription on the bottom of the panel could then be "Duc de Waes”. Jean Wouters took service with the last dukes of Burgundy, Philip the Good and Charles the Bold. In 1477, he became a member of the Chamber of Accounts of Mechelen, composed of the Chambers of Lille and Brussels. Mary of Burgundy abolished the Chamber of Malines to reform the former respective chambers, and in 1513, Jean Wouters became president of the Chamber of Lille. Philip the Handsome, Archduke of Austria and King of Castile and the Netherlands, son of Mary of Burgundy, entrusted him with various missions in Besançon and the country of Waas,
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in order to reintegrate the goods that were returned to the Crown. He continued similar duties for the son of Philip the Beautiful, Charles Quint, after the Treaty of Paris with Francis I in 1515, restoring the income of the seigneury of Salines to the Crown of the Netherlands. These missions and the many rewards he received prove Jean Wouters was held in high esteem with the Dukes of Burgundy. In 1932 Friedländer pointed out the importance of the coat of arms as this could locate the work and style of the portrait. The author of the panel is an artist from either Flanders or Burgundy. However, the style is more likely to be of a Flemish master than it is French. This is because they are closer to the Italian spirit, with more idealised models and larger proportions. Also, situated in the Kress Collection of the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Alabama, US, is a triptych of The Adoration of the Holy Name of Jesus; Jean Wouters and Jean Wouters le Jeune with St. John Baptist; Jossine de Beste (Wouters) and Elisabeth Wouters with St. Jodocus. Jean Wouters the Younger, occupied several official functions such as Writer of the Waas country from 1508 to 1518. In 1544, following the death of his cousin François van Pottelsberghe, he inherited the seigneuries of Vinderhoute and Merendree. He was the only living son of Livina van Steelant and Lieven van Pottelsberghe portrayed on the family portrait situated in the museum of fine arts in Ghent. The names of Hans Memling and Albert Bouts, working respectively in Bruges from 1478 to 1484, and in Leuven until 1548, Memling being the ultimate portraitist among the Flemish primitives, and the physical type of Albert's models can be cited in this work. Some features of the face are found in the models of this artist, in particular the rounded shape of the face of the model, and the drawing of the hands; the somewhat globular eyes and the way of drawing the wrinkles are also part of the register of Albert Bouts.
Franco-Flemish Master, active c. 1480: Jean Wouters and Jean Wouters le Jeune with St. John Baptist; The Adoration of the Holy Name of Jesus; Jossine de Beste (Wouters) and Elisabeth Wouters with St. Jodocus, Montgomery, Alabama.
h|w
32,5 x 40 cm work
Oil on panel
provenance
Former collection Huyvetter, Ghent, n° 68 with portrait of Guarin de Beste, 1900. — C. Enlart reports the disappearance of these paintings (Two Memories of the Kingdom of Cyprus at the British Museum and the Cinquantenaire Museum in Brussels, in “Memoirs of the Society of Antique Dealers of France”, 7th series, t.9, Paris, 1910, 14-15). — Steinmeyer Art Trade, Berlin, September 1912. He submitted the photos of both paintings to Mr. M.J. Friedländer
(now at the “Friedländer Archive” at the Rijksmuseum voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague). — Sale Geutzer, Aachen, 1921, lot 101 (with its counterpart, lot 102). — Antiques dealer Julius Böhler, München, August 26, 1921, mentions him as “a portrait of a man, Mr Wouters” as recognized by Dr. Hulin de Loo, Ghent. — Sale Sammlung Felix Ziethen, München, 22 Sept. 1934, No. 46. — Private collection, until 1991.
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Adriaen Isenbrandt Antwerp 1587 – 1631
The Virgin and the Christ Child before a landscape
h|w
49 x 34 cm work
Oil on panel A letter of confirmation by Dr. Max Martens present.
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Pieter Pourbus h|w
work
literature
45 x 35 cm
Oil on panel Monogram top right dated 1571
Paul Huvenne, Pieter Pourbus, Master-painter 1524 - 1584, p. 56, fig. nr 25
Gouda 1523 – 1584 Bruges
Portrait of a monk
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Antwerp circa 1520
Mary Magdalen
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h|w
work
49 x 35 cm
Oil on panel
attributed to
Joachim Patinir Flemish school
The Penitent St Jerome
provenance h|w
32,5 x 42,5 cm work
Oil on panel
Museum of Fine Arts, lent by Dr. W. Herman Johns Hopkins University, (Baltimore) titled "Landscape Painting From Patinir to Hubert Robert" dated 1941, verified by the 1941 catalog of that exhibition. Purchased at Christie's London June 1974. Lot nr. 134, Saint Jerome in a rocky coastal landscape as J. Patenier
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Gillis Mostaert Hulst 1534 – 1598 Antwerp
The village feast ▼
Roelandt Savery Kortrijk 1576 – 1639 Utrecht
Animated mountanous landscape with figures ▶
h|w h|w
provenance
78 x 109 cm
Gunnar Sadolin's collection inventory number 278
work
Oil on panel
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28,5 x 18,7 cm work
Oil on copper Signed lower right 'Savery' and set to be dated 1609
provenance
Dr. Hans Wetzlar (d. 1970), Amsterdam — With Juliuis Böhler, Munich — Acquired by Max Michel Forell, 1958
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circle of
David Vinckeboons
Mechelen 1576 – 1632 Amsterdam
The kermesse of the feast of St George with the Oudenaarde town hall
provenance h|w
48 x 68 cm work
Oil on panel
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M. le Président Joly, Bruxelles exhibition
Exposition du Paysage Flamand, septembre – Novembre 1926, as nr. 349 Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique
English School, 17th century
A vanitas still-life ‘Last will & Testament’
h|w
work
38 x 56 cm
Oil on canvas
Claes Claesz Wou work h|w
51 x 98 cm
Oil on panel Signed on a piece of driftwood C. C. Wou
1592 – 1665 Amsterdam
Ships before Fort Rammekens near Vlissingen
Sebastian Vrancx Antwerp 1573 – 1647 Antwerp
▲ ◀ Pillage of a village h|w
31,5 x 23,5 cm work
Oil on panel to be dated circa 1630
▶ A gathering of soldiers in a clearing h|w
61,5 x 46,5 cm work
Oil on panel literature
This painting is to be dated circa 1625. The prototype of this composition is in the museum of Stockholm and is dated 1617.
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35
attributed to
Charles Beschey
Antwerp 1706 – ?
An animated village
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h|w
work
44 x 58 cm
Oil on panel
h|w
37,5 x 54 cm work
Oil on panel ▲ The ambush
Jan Peter van Bredael the younger Antwerp 1683 – 1735 Vienna
▼ The hunting party with falcons
h|w
36,5 x 45,5 cm work
Oil on panel
Pieter Neefs I Antwerp 1578 – 1656 Antwerp
An animated church interior h|w
50 x 65 cm work
Oil on canvas Signed and dated 1637 on the stone pillar on the right
Frans Francken II Antwerp 1581 – 1642 Antwerp
Death and the Miser h|w
23 x 17,5 cm work
Oil on copper
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Hieronymus Francken II Antwerp 1578 – 1628 Antwerp
The prodigal son h|w
49,5 x 66 cm work
Oil on copper
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attributed to
Hendrick Maartensz Sorgh
Dutch school, 17th century
Cleaning the fish
h|w
28,5 x 29,5 cm work
Oil on panel
Joos van Craesbeeck Neerlinter 1606 – 1661 Brussels
Unequal love
h|w
64 x 48 cm work
Oil on panel Signed with monogram right on the barrel provenance
Amsterdam, Frederik Muller as lot nr. 23, 25/04/1911 J. Böhler, München, 1917 Verz. Bergsten, Stockholm 1927 Kunsthandel J. Singer, Praag 1938 literature
Dr. Karolien De Clippel, Joos Van Craesbeeck, 2006, p. 477, black/white picture exhibitions
Exposition d’art ancien l’Art Belge au XVII siècle, Brussel KMKG 1910, lot 62
Joos van Craesbeeck Neerlinter 1606 – 1661 Brussels
Merry-making at the inn
h|w
work
43 x 52 cm
Oil on panel, Signed with monogram lower left on the wooden stool
41
Flemish, 17th century
h|w
work
Winter pleasures on the ice
25 x 36 cm
Oil on panel
42
Flemish school, 17th century
Samson burning the crops of the Philistines, the story of the 300 foxes. h|w
19 x 15 cm
follower of
Jan Breughel I
Antwerp, 16th century
Taking a break during the harvest h|w
14 x 19 cm work
Oil on copper
43
17th century
The destruction of Troy
h|w
7,5 x 9,4 cm work
Oil on copper
Netherlandish, 17th century
An animated village
h|w
3,7 x 5,7 cm work
Oil on copper
Christoffel van den Berghe active in Middelburg between 1617 and 1642
A landscape with resting travellers and a horseman
h|w
10,8 x 16,5 cm work
Oil on copper Signed with monogram lower centre: CB
44
Abraham Bosschaert Antwerp 1612 – 1639
A bouquet of flowers in a glass vase on a stone table ledge
Flemish, early 17th century
Portrait of a gentleman
h|w
49 x 37,5 cm work
Oil on panel Signed lower right
h|w
10,4 x 8 cm work
Oil on copper Accompanied by a letter of the V&A Museum dating 1966
45
Gaspar Pieter Verbruggen II Antwerp 1664 – 1730 Antwerp
Two naked youth holding flowers ◀
h|w
157 x 90 cm work
Oil on canvas Signed lower right ‘Gasper Pedro Verbruggen’ and dated 1696
Abraham Bosschaert Antwerp 1612 – 1639
A bouquet of flowers on a stone table ledge ▶
h|w
120,5 x 80 cm work
Oil on panel Signed lower right
46
Balthasar van der Ast Middelburg 1590 – 1657 Delft
Flowers in a basket, surrounded by shells, other flowers and a lizard
h|w
41 x 49,5 cm work
Oil on panel, Signed and dated left below
48
Floris van Schooten c. 1590 – after 1655 Haarlem
Still Life with a ham, a roemer, bread, and tin plateware
h|w
52 x 83 cm work
Oil on panel
49
Cornelis de Heem
h|w
53,5 x 39 cm work
Leyden 1631 – 1695 Antwerp
A garland of plums, grapes, oranges, peaches and cherries
50
Oil on canvas Signed right above
provenance
Richard Green, 1968 Frost & Reed LTD, 1973 accompanied by the original invoice
h|w
David Cornelisz. de Heem
42 x 34,5 cm work
provenance
Oil on canvas Signed lower right
WM Dyer and Son, July 27, 1927 Galerie Dejonckheere
Antwerp 1663 – 1718
Still life with fruits on a stone table ledge
51
circle of
Jan Davidsz. de Heem
17th century
Still Life with Fruit, a Lapis Lazuli Box, and a Wanli Dish
52
h|w
80 x 68 cm work
Oil on canvas
Nicolaes van Veerendael h|w
work
45 x 35 cm
Oil on canvas, Signed and dated Nicolas Veerendael 1671
Antwerp 1640 – 1691 Antwerp
Flowers in a vase
53
54
Job Adriaensz. Berckheyde Haarlem 1630 – 1693 Haarlem
Self-portrait of Job Adriaensz. Berckheyde ◀
h|w
22 x 17 cm work
Oil on panel Signed and dated 1672 fig 1, © Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
The seventeenth century was a period of unprecedented prosperity for Dutch painting. Many Dutch artists from this period painted self-portraits; more so than in any other country. This was due to an increased demand for paintings. The competition was fierce, therefore it was important to differentiate oneself from other painters. In the seventeenth century, only drawings and paintings were available for depicting portraits. A self-portrait could also serve as an example of the painter's own talent, not only of his capability for striking a good resemblance, but also of his other skills. For example in the field of depicting fabrics; the self-portrait was a calling card for the painter. It is precisely this art form that the artist focused on. These paintings were often well-painted portraits in which we can see how the artist wanted to present himself to the world. The captivating self-portrait of Job Berckheyde - who lived in the Dutch golden age - shows a smiling young man, looking at the viewer, sitting on a wooden chair playing the violin. To the left in the foreground there is a table on which rests an oriental tablecloth, a wine-glass, and an opened notebook with scores. The painting is signed and dated to the right and positioned in the centre of the wall: „Job Berckheyde 1672”. It is the first version of his self-portrait he painted three years later, situated in the Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence (fig 1). This portrait has a more elaborated atelier which shows a man sitting next to a table with objects such as a flute, an opened book, a bottle, a pipe and a bust. The painter sits behind an easel with a brush in the right and palette in the left hand. The same dark brown jacket and a beret are depicted as in the first painting of Job. In the portrait of 1675 a third self-portrait is hanging on the wall together with the same violin and fiddlestick. The same oriental table cloth also appears in those two portraits. In both paintings, the light shines heraldically right on the wall and the face of the violin player, which indicates that he portrayed himself in the same room. A striking difference between both portraits is the facial expression. In 1672 he portrayed
himself as a frivolous violin player who seems to be greatly distracted from his play, in contrast to 1675, portraying himself as a serious painter. Artists did own some tangible props, as Rembrandt’s and Van der Helst’s inventory suggests; most notably an impressive array of weapons and armour, but also a variety of musical instruments. While the studio is still represented as a place of work in many images, it also assumes a new role as a site of play. This is particularly the case from around 1630 and seems to have been especially among painters of Leiden in the circle of Gerard Dou, which Berckheyde visited during his life. The artist is not always depicted in the act of painting and instead performs ‘roles’ which involve play in the sense of leisure: drinking wine, smoking tobacco and making music.
fig 3, H.C. Shenton
55
The presented painting belonged to Alexander Sergeyevich Stroganoff, which he collected during his trips to Paris as a Russian Ambassador during the 1870’s. He was a member of the Private Committee of Alexander I and assistant to the Minister of the Interior, a longtime President of the Imperial Academy of Arts, director of the Russian Imperial Library and a member of the Russian Academy. In his collection there were two works by Anthony van Dyck, two by Rembrandt and the original version of the portrait of Desiderius Erasmus, painted by Quinten Massijs I, currently in the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Rome. Stroganoff had another painting he didn’t want everyone to see because of the depiction of erotic and nude scenes. For this reason he had a special golden framework made so it was hidden behind the violin player. Because of the inscription on the frame it is clear he believed the violin player was a self-portrait of Gerrit, brother of Job Berckheyde. The concealed painting behind it was Vulcan reveals the adultery of Mars and Venus to the Gods, 1604-1608 (fig 2) of Joachim Wtewael, now in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles/Malibu. In the Metamorphoses, the Roman author Ovid tells the story about Venus, the goddess of love, who had an affair with the god of war, Mars. Her husband, the lame blacksmith Vulcan, caught them and exposed the adulterous couple to a gathering of amused gods. Mercury then offered to trade places with Mars. With his rendering of exaggerated musculature and distorted bodies, Wtewael was a leading representative of Dutch Mannerism. A second version made in 1601 is on view in The Mauritshuis, Den Hague, and a third version of 1610 is situated in The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. In the catalogue of the Hermitage by Somoff in 1895 and the book of Semenov about Holland and Flemish art in Russia, 1906 nothing is mentioned about the self-portrait of Job Berckheyde, but there is a record of an etching from 1833, engraved on paper by H.C. Shenton (fig 3) after the presented work, named The Merry Fiddler.
fig 7, IRR photograph
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fig 4, C. Skotiukoff/Kotman
fig 2, © Getty Museum
fig 8
Another reproduction print after the self-portrait, is made by Kotmann after a drawing by C. Skotiukoff “after a painting from the collection of Count A. Stroganoff in St. Petersburg” (fig 4). The portrait of Job Berckheyde, which was to be found in the collection of P. van Buytene, is described on one of the records of Hofstede de Groot as “alwaar hy sit en speelt op de Fiool” (fig 5). This could be the portrait of 1672. Another sheet from Hofstede shows that this work was offered for sale as a portrait of Gerrit Adriaensz. Berckheyde, instead of Job under the title‚ The gaiety personified’ (fig 6). provenance
Collection P. van Buytene, Delft October 29, 1748 Auction Stroganoff, lot 1 as Gerrit Berckheyde, 1672, Paris May 24, 1934.
fig 5, 6 & 7 Hofstede de Groot
Matthijs Naiveu Leyden 1647 – 1721 Amsterdam
A nocturnal feast of Epiphany with 3 Commedia dell' Arte figures entertaining a crowd on the Dam in Amsterdam
h|w
54 x 63 cm work
Oil on canvas Signed right below on cobble and dated 1710
57
Robert Griffier London 1688 – 1750
An animated landscape h|w
36 x 47 cm work
Oil on panel Signed lower right
58
Robert Griffier London 1688 – 1750
Merry-making on the ice h|w
42 x 54 cm work
Oil on copper Signed lower right provenance
Bernheimer Fine Art
59
Adriaen Pietersz. Van De Venne Delft 1589 - 1662 The Hague
Fighting beggars
Jan Havicksz Steen Leiden 1625/26 – 1679 Leiden
Quarrelling backgammon players ▶
h|w
16,8 x 30,5 cm work
Oil on panel Signed ‘Ad:Van(?)venne’ lower center indistinctly inscribed ‘Alarm!’ lower right
60
h|w
41,5 x 53 cm work
Oil on panel Signed lower middle: JSteen (JS in ligature)
Contrary to what has been published on this painting, this is an original work by Jan Steen, albeit that its condition is less satisfactory. Ours is probably an earlier version of a composition in the Maximilian Speck von Sternburg-Stiftung in Leipzig, however, with several different figures, a varied setting, and with backgammon players instead of card players having a brawl at an inn. For an image of the Leipzig version see www.sternburg-stiftung. de/gemaelde/popup_153.html. Another difference is that our panel has an original Steen signature, while the work in Leipzig is signed falsely. Thanks to infrared photography we can point at more features that clarify we are dealing with a work by the artist’s own hand. For example, under infrared light we notice how Steen initially placed the backgammon board higher up on the floor. There are also pentimenti – changes in the composition by the artist himself – above the cap of the man holding the stabber: this cap was originally much higher. Also the left foot of the man with the knife initially had a different position. Another important personal feature is how the hat of the man on the right was at first reserved against the wooden stairs. After the painting of the hat – Steen always did this a fraction smaller than the space he had reserved for it – the artist had to fill in the background colour. Through aging the fast and thinly applied layer of paint has become transparent; we now see a ‘halo‘ around the hat, completely in accordance with Steen’s painting technique.(1)
On an old black and white photograph from 1951 preserved at the Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD) in The Hague this ‘halo’ was painted over with a thick dark paint by a restorer who apparently was not aware of its function. The recent restoration brought these features again back to light. — Text by Guido Janssen 1. See ‘The Artist’s Working Method’, an essay by Martin Bijl, in: Guido M.C. Jansen, ed., Jan Steen: Painter and Storyteller, Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1996, pp. 83-91.
literature
Karel Braun, Alle tot nu toe bekende schilderijen van Jan Steen, Rotterdam 1980, p. 134, with no. 323 (mistakenly as copy after the Quarrelling Card Players in the Maximilian Speck von SternburgStiftung, Leipzig); Karsten Hommel, ed., Maximilian Speck von Sternburg, ein Europäer der Goethezeit als Kunstsammler, Leipzig (Museum der bildenden Künste) 1998, p. 329 (note 8, repeating Braun) provenance
Collection of the Counts Potocki, Lancut Estate, Poland (an old inventory number 198 still visible in the lower right corner); inherited by Count Alfred Antoni Potocki (1886-1958), who died in Geneva, Switzerland; Auction Galerie Fischer, Luzern, June 1951; Private Collection.
61
Italy, late 16th century
Portrait of Pope Sixtus V ?
62
h|w
work
50,5 x 40 cm
Oil on canvas
attributed to h|w
work
190 x 135 cm
Oil on canvas
We thank Miss Francesca Baldassari for this attribution.
Francesco Montemezzano North Italy, circa 1580
Portrait of a noblewoman with her daughter
63
François Jean Louis Boulanger Ghent 1819 – 1873 Ghent
Sint-Veerleplein, Ghent
h|w
68 x 88,5 cm work
Oil on panel Signed lower left
64
Ferdinand de Braekeleer Antwerp 1792 – 1883 Antwerp
The music lesson
h|w
98 x 136 cm work
Oil on panel Signed and dated lower left 'Ferd De Braekeleer 1844
65
66
Jacques Carabain Amsterdam 1834 – 1933 Schaarbeek
◀ A market scene in Bernkastel, Germany h|w
76 x 62 cm work
Oil on canvas Signed lower left
▲ The market day at Goslar with Hotel Kaiserworth h|w
82,5 x 61 cm work
Oil on canvas Signed lower right and dated 1860
67
Florent Willems Liège 1823 – 1905 Neville-sur-Seine
The letter
h|w
80 x 51 cm work
Oil on panel Signed lower right
François Musin Oostende 1820 – 1888 Brussels
Getting the boat on the shore
h|w
45 x 66 cm work
Oil on panel Signed lower right
69
Gerard Portielje Antwerp 1856 – 1929 Remich
The bachelor
h|w
35,5 x 26 cm work
Oil on panel Signed and dated 1884 left below
Abraham Hulk Amsterdam 1813 – 1897 Amsterdam
Ships in the harbour
h|w
36 x 54 cm work
Oil on panel Signed lower right A. Hulk
Charles Van den Eycken Brussels 1859 – 1923
The little prince
h|w
19 x 24 cm work
Oil on panel Signed lower right and dated 1917
Eugène Verboeckhoven Warneton 1798 – 1881 Schaarbeek
A barn interior with ewes, lambs and hens
h|w
25,5 x 35 cm work
Oil on panel Signed lower right Also signed and dated 1863 on the reverse
Théodore Gudin Paris 1802 – 1880 Boulogne-Billancourt
Pirates off the coast of North Africa
h|w
30 x 41 cm work
Oil on panel Signed and dated below right 1846
Ludwig Mecklenburg Hamburg 1820 – 1882 Munich
Venice, Palazzo Ducale and Santa Maria della Salute in the distance
h|w
52 x 70 cm work
Oil on canvas Signed, dated and inscribed lower left: L. Mecklenburg München 1862
72
Franz Richard Unterberger Innsbrßck 1838 – 1902 Neuilly-sur-Seine
Evening festivities, Bay of Naples, Mount Vesuvius in the distance
h|w
60 x 85,5 cm work
Oil on canvas Signed lower right provenance
With MacConnal-Mason & Son LTD. London
73
Jan Muller Antiques bvba Fine Art Paintings © 2018 Jan Muller Antiques
Burgstraat 24 9000 Gent Belgium
Published by Jan Muller Antiques January 2018
info@janmullerantiques.com www.janmullerantiques.com
Gallery visit by appointment only +32 (0)496 26 33 24
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Photography Peter Willems — Design Sfumato.be — Printed by Bema-Graphics
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Jan Muller / Antiques Burgstraat 24 9000 Gent, Belgium +32 (0)496 26 33 24 info@janmullerantiques.com www.janmullerantiques.com