Decade 1640-1649
See also : Italian sculpture Rembrandt Flemish art Early still life British Royals Books Books 1501-1700 Religious texts
1640 Psalms for a New World
2013 SOLD 14.2 M$ including premium
The Puritans fleeing the England of the Stuarts built in Massachusetts Bay the communities that could meet their religious and social ideals. One of the villages, named Cambridge in 1638, specifically had a cultural vocation. Harvard College was founded there in 1636.
The singing of the psalms is a strong element of their liturgy, linking together the first parishioners of that region still in wilderness. Their scholars do not want to use the available British translations. Their new version in English verse takes the excuse of a need to be closer to the original Hebrew text. It was actually a remarkable collective work, and the first sign of their independence from the Church of England.
They now have to publish this text. In London, Josse Glover supports the project and in turn leaves to America in 1638. He did not reach it, but he was accompanied by Stephen Day (or Daye), a locksmith who will be the first printer in New England.
Currently known by the nickname Bay Psalm Book, The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre is printed by Day in 1640 in Cambridge and sold by the earliest bookseller of New England, Hezekiah Usher.
The original edition consisted of 1700 copies. For a century, the book was highly successful and often reprinted. Because of its liturgical use, most copies were damaged and destroyed.
The arrival at auction of a copy in good condition of the 1640 edition is an event of the utmost importance for American bibliophiles and patriots. In 1947, one of them went to be more expensive than the Old Testament of the Gutenberg Bible.
Another one is estimated $ 15M to 30M, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 26. Here is the link to the home page of the sale. The seller is the Old South Church in Boston which keeps another copy in a similar condition.
POST SALE COMMENT
The Bay Psalm Book was sold for $ 14.2M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
The singing of the psalms is a strong element of their liturgy, linking together the first parishioners of that region still in wilderness. Their scholars do not want to use the available British translations. Their new version in English verse takes the excuse of a need to be closer to the original Hebrew text. It was actually a remarkable collective work, and the first sign of their independence from the Church of England.
They now have to publish this text. In London, Josse Glover supports the project and in turn leaves to America in 1638. He did not reach it, but he was accompanied by Stephen Day (or Daye), a locksmith who will be the first printer in New England.
Currently known by the nickname Bay Psalm Book, The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre is printed by Day in 1640 in Cambridge and sold by the earliest bookseller of New England, Hezekiah Usher.
The original edition consisted of 1700 copies. For a century, the book was highly successful and often reprinted. Because of its liturgical use, most copies were damaged and destroyed.
The arrival at auction of a copy in good condition of the 1640 edition is an event of the utmost importance for American bibliophiles and patriots. In 1947, one of them went to be more expensive than the Old Testament of the Gutenberg Bible.
Another one is estimated $ 15M to 30M, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 26. Here is the link to the home page of the sale. The seller is the Old South Church in Boston which keeps another copy in a similar condition.
POST SALE COMMENT
The Bay Psalm Book was sold for $ 14.2M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
1641 Van Dyck painted by Himself
2009 SOLD 8.3 M£ including premium
A native of Antwerp and pupil of Rubens, Van Dyck moved permanently to England in 1632. He got there one of the greatest successes in the history of painting as a portraitist of King Charles I and his court.
In 1641, a few months before his death, he made the self-portrait on canvas that Sotheby's is selling in London on December 9. He is a typical gentleman of the mid-seventeenth century, with long hair pulled back to clear the forehead, and abundant whiskers. He was shown almost in profile, in an oval format that is highlighted by a splendid frame.
The lower estimate announced by Sotheby's is £ 2 million, but the press retains only the higher estimate, £ 3 million. Recent results for paintings by Van Dyck can actually give hope that this price is reached.
In the same family for three centuries, this portrait was one of the stars of the Van Dyck exhibition at Tate Britain in London last spring.
Here are links to information provided by other sites that encourage sharing. You will access to the photo of the artwork, with in one of these pages the presence of an assistant who gives the scale. I wish you a pleasant visit.
Shared by Guardian
Shared by Bloomberg
Shared by Art Market Monitor
POST SALE COMMENT
This outstanding and attractive painting gets one of the best results of this London sale session: £ 8.3 million including premium.
In 1641, a few months before his death, he made the self-portrait on canvas that Sotheby's is selling in London on December 9. He is a typical gentleman of the mid-seventeenth century, with long hair pulled back to clear the forehead, and abundant whiskers. He was shown almost in profile, in an oval format that is highlighted by a splendid frame.
The lower estimate announced by Sotheby's is £ 2 million, but the press retains only the higher estimate, £ 3 million. Recent results for paintings by Van Dyck can actually give hope that this price is reached.
In the same family for three centuries, this portrait was one of the stars of the Van Dyck exhibition at Tate Britain in London last spring.
Here are links to information provided by other sites that encourage sharing. You will access to the photo of the artwork, with in one of these pages the presence of an assistant who gives the scale. I wish you a pleasant visit.
Shared by Guardian
Shared by Bloomberg
Shared by Art Market Monitor
POST SALE COMMENT
This outstanding and attractive painting gets one of the best results of this London sale session: £ 8.3 million including premium.
Self-portrait by Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) sold for $13.63 million in 2009. #NationalSelfieDay #art #auction pic.twitter.com/6uzblndHOB
— Maine Antique Digest (@AntiqueDigest) June 21, 2016
1641 Royal Children by van Dyck
2018 SOLD for £ 5.9M including premium
A great art patron, King Charles I wanted to take one of the best portrait painters to his service. He chooses Antoon (Anthony) van Dyck. Equal to his famous contemporaries Rubens, Hals, Velazquez and Rembrandt for the quality of the faces, van Dyck also brings a careful attention to the attitudes of the characters, always natural, never stiff. He is undoubtedly the best portraitist of children.
When van Dyck began this new mission in 1632, the royal couple had two children, Charles and Mary. James, Elizabeth and Anne will be born later. The artist watches them grow.
The mother, Henriette, brought to the Stuart court her French elegance with luxurious fabrics. A portrait kept in the Boston Museum shows Mary in 1637. The six-year-old princess wears a long silk dress to which the artist's skill brings a lustrous appearance.
On May 2, 1641 Mary marries a prince of Orange. In the days that followed, van Dyck paints a new portrait similar to the previous one, on which the little girl now wears her wedding ring and the brooch offered by her newlywed.
Making autograph copies is a common practice of van Dyck. By the quality of dress and jewels and the transparency of the embroidery, the 158 x 109 cm autograph oil on canvas for sale by Christie's in London on December 6 is perhaps the original painting of 1641. It is estimated £ 5M, lot 15.
On December 5 in London, Sotheby's sells another example of same size, lot 30 estimated £ 600K. The figure of the child is identical but the ambience background has nearly vanished, and the spectacular coral pink gown worn at the wedding has become a saturated orange, probably to please the new Orange in-laws of the princess. A participation of the studio is possible.
A portrait of the same format and same year shows the Prince of Wales later King Charles II, aged 11, in armor. It was probably since its creation a pendant with Mary's picture in orange and is estimated £ 2M for sale by Sotheby's in the same sale, lot 29.
Please watch the videos shared by the auction houses.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM :
Christie's (Princess Mary) : SOLD for £ 5.9M
Sotheby's (Prince Charles) : SOLD for £ 2.6M
Sotheby's (Princess Mary) : SOLD for £ 790K
When van Dyck began this new mission in 1632, the royal couple had two children, Charles and Mary. James, Elizabeth and Anne will be born later. The artist watches them grow.
The mother, Henriette, brought to the Stuart court her French elegance with luxurious fabrics. A portrait kept in the Boston Museum shows Mary in 1637. The six-year-old princess wears a long silk dress to which the artist's skill brings a lustrous appearance.
On May 2, 1641 Mary marries a prince of Orange. In the days that followed, van Dyck paints a new portrait similar to the previous one, on which the little girl now wears her wedding ring and the brooch offered by her newlywed.
Making autograph copies is a common practice of van Dyck. By the quality of dress and jewels and the transparency of the embroidery, the 158 x 109 cm autograph oil on canvas for sale by Christie's in London on December 6 is perhaps the original painting of 1641. It is estimated £ 5M, lot 15.
On December 5 in London, Sotheby's sells another example of same size, lot 30 estimated £ 600K. The figure of the child is identical but the ambience background has nearly vanished, and the spectacular coral pink gown worn at the wedding has become a saturated orange, probably to please the new Orange in-laws of the princess. A participation of the studio is possible.
A portrait of the same format and same year shows the Prince of Wales later King Charles II, aged 11, in armor. It was probably since its creation a pendant with Mary's picture in orange and is estimated £ 2M for sale by Sotheby's in the same sale, lot 29.
Please watch the videos shared by the auction houses.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM :
Christie's (Princess Mary) : SOLD for £ 5.9M
Sotheby's (Prince Charles) : SOLD for £ 2.6M
Sotheby's (Princess Mary) : SOLD for £ 790K
These portraits of an 11 year-old Charles II, when Prince of Wales, and his 9 year-old sister Mary, Princess Royal, were among the last works #VanDyck painted for his royal patron, Charles I. #SothebysMasters https://t.co/cGm7aFEAvb pic.twitter.com/lYbs1RzTEW
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) September 13, 2018
1640s The Five Labours of Hercules
2018 SOLD for £ 6.8M including premium
Pietro Tacca had the skills and the position to become one of the best sculptors of all time. He was unlucky. Disciple and then assistant to Giambologna in Florence, he succeeds the master in 1608. At the same time Baroque supersedes Mannerism.
Tacca designs groups in violent action as well as equestrian monuments, made in bronze by assembling elements. His statue of King Philip IV of Spain on a rearing horse only standing on its hind legs and tail is an unprecedented technical feat but the artist died in 1640 just before the installation of this masterpiece.
In 1612 the heir to the throne of England is the 18 years old Prince Henry. He communicates to the Grand Duke of Tuscany his interest in bronzes. Appealed by the idea of an easy support for a new alliance, the Grand Duke commissions to Tacca a set of groups illustrating the labours of Hercules.
Around 1614 Tacca prepares five models but the young English prince had died and the project no longer interests anyone. Twenty years later there were still arrears of payment.
It is not Pietro but his son Ferdinando who brings to perfection the art of the Florentine bronze, with a surface finish that simulates in a differentiated way the skin, the hair, the textile, the hide, the rock, the plant. The five groups of Hercules had remained unused. Ferdinando made the first bronzes of this series after the death of his father. The sculpture is out of fashion. Ten years later Ferdinando had become a theater machinist and an architect.
In 1681 the French King Louis XIV wishes to complete the education of his son and heir the Grand Dauphin. He gathers a collection of nine humanist minded bronzes including four groups of Hercules made in the 1640s by Ferdinando Tacca.
Released from the royal collections during the French Revolution, Hercules slaying the Acheloüs bull, 58 x 55 x 38 cm with a beautiful reddish-brown patina, was sold for $ 1.65M by Sotheby's on May 20, 1994. It will be sold by Christie's in London on July 5, lot 110. The press release of April 16 announces an estimate in the region of £ 5M.
Tacca designs groups in violent action as well as equestrian monuments, made in bronze by assembling elements. His statue of King Philip IV of Spain on a rearing horse only standing on its hind legs and tail is an unprecedented technical feat but the artist died in 1640 just before the installation of this masterpiece.
In 1612 the heir to the throne of England is the 18 years old Prince Henry. He communicates to the Grand Duke of Tuscany his interest in bronzes. Appealed by the idea of an easy support for a new alliance, the Grand Duke commissions to Tacca a set of groups illustrating the labours of Hercules.
Around 1614 Tacca prepares five models but the young English prince had died and the project no longer interests anyone. Twenty years later there were still arrears of payment.
It is not Pietro but his son Ferdinando who brings to perfection the art of the Florentine bronze, with a surface finish that simulates in a differentiated way the skin, the hair, the textile, the hide, the rock, the plant. The five groups of Hercules had remained unused. Ferdinando made the first bronzes of this series after the death of his father. The sculpture is out of fashion. Ten years later Ferdinando had become a theater machinist and an architect.
In 1681 the French King Louis XIV wishes to complete the education of his son and heir the Grand Dauphin. He gathers a collection of nine humanist minded bronzes including four groups of Hercules made in the 1640s by Ferdinando Tacca.
Released from the royal collections during the French Revolution, Hercules slaying the Acheloüs bull, 58 x 55 x 38 cm with a beautiful reddish-brown patina, was sold for $ 1.65M by Sotheby's on May 20, 1994. It will be sold by Christie's in London on July 5, lot 110. The press release of April 16 announces an estimate in the region of £ 5M.
Groupe en bronze représentant Hercule terrassant Achelous sous la forme d'un taureau. Attribué à Ferdinando Tacca, Florence, XVIIe siècle. Cadeau de #LouisXIV au Grand Dauphin en 1681. Portant le n°302 dans l'inventaire des bronzes de la Couronne. @Sothebys Londres 05/07 pic.twitter.com/KA4OE8frr5
— Didier P. Doré (@DPDORE) June 19, 2018
Banquet Still Life by de HEEM
Intro
Developed since the beginning of the 17th century as a supplement or a minor art, still life enters a new phase around 1640. The Flemish had brought naturalism and the Dutch had brought the light. Fruits and other foods have joined the bouquets, with Clara Peeters and Willem Heda.
Antwerp and Utrecht are 150 km apart and artistic links are strong between the two cities. The two most important painters of the new style, the Pronkstilleven, are Johannes van Antwerpen, born in Utrecht, who will be known as Jan Davidsz de Heem, and Adriaen van Utrecht, born in Antwerp.
Still life shows by definition perishable objects. The Pronkstilleven reinforces the message of vanity through the abundance of scarce foods, the unstable mess on the banquet preparation table and the presence of musical instruments.
De Heem was a member of the Antwerp guild in 1636, after having been trained in Utrecht and Leiden. Between 1640 and 1643, he realizes four monumental works, which will remain the largest of his career, at the apparent rate of one painting per year. His customers have not been identified.
Table of Desserts, oil on canvas 1.45 x 2 m preserved in the Louvre, appears as the first in this series. The imbalance of the objects on the crumpled tablecloth will inspire Cézanne's research and the "Nature morte d'après de Heem" painted by Matisse in 1915 is a modernist remake of this specific work.
The second painting is kept at the Municipal Museum of Brussels.
Antwerp and Utrecht are 150 km apart and artistic links are strong between the two cities. The two most important painters of the new style, the Pronkstilleven, are Johannes van Antwerpen, born in Utrecht, who will be known as Jan Davidsz de Heem, and Adriaen van Utrecht, born in Antwerp.
Still life shows by definition perishable objects. The Pronkstilleven reinforces the message of vanity through the abundance of scarce foods, the unstable mess on the banquet preparation table and the presence of musical instruments.
De Heem was a member of the Antwerp guild in 1636, after having been trained in Utrecht and Leiden. Between 1640 and 1643, he realizes four monumental works, which will remain the largest of his career, at the apparent rate of one painting per year. His customers have not been identified.
Table of Desserts, oil on canvas 1.45 x 2 m preserved in the Louvre, appears as the first in this series. The imbalance of the objects on the crumpled tablecloth will inspire Cézanne's research and the "Nature morte d'après de Heem" painted by Matisse in 1915 is a modernist remake of this specific work.
The second painting is kept at the Municipal Museum of Brussels.
1
1642 with Lobster
1988 SOLD for $ 6.6M by Christie's
The third painting is the Banquet Still Life with a Lobster, sold for $ 6.6M by Christie's on January 15, 1988.
2
1643
2020 SOLD for £ 5.8M by Christie's
The fourth painting, oil on canvas 155 x 211 cm painted in 1643, had not been seen since an auction in 1817 and is still uncleaned. It was sold for £ 5.8M from a lower estimate of £ 4M by Christie's on December 15, 2020, lot 10. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
#AuctionUpdate Jan Davidsz. de Heem's Dutch Golden Age masterpiece, 'A Banquet Still Life' achieved £5,666,000, a #WorldAuctionRecord for the artist. This is among the largest and most ambitiously conceived still-lifes in de Heem's oeuvre: https://t.co/nAOQidAZug pic.twitter.com/y6dBdJ0cvj
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) December 15, 2020
1643 Mazarin's Treasure
2013 SOLD 7.3 M€ including premium
Around 1640 in Kyoto, the art of lacquer reached a fabulous refinement. The Dutch East India Company managed to export some pieces of very high quality.
At that time in Europe, the commode has not been invented, and the usual saving furniture is the coffre, without drawers. A wonderful chest kept in the Victoria and Albert Museum is part of a group of four shipped to Batavia on 1 October 1643. Its attested belonging to the Mazarin - La Meilleraye family suggests that it was acquired by the cardinal-minister. It is identified as the Mazarin chest.
The very detailed website of the museum devotes a full page to another chest from the same series, lamenting that its fate is unknown since 1941. Black and white photos show a panel and the top..
The lost piece was just found in a family that had no idea of its importance. It is listed in the annual prestige sale at the château de Cheverny by Rouillac on June 9. The auction house considers that it had been acquired circa 1658 in Amsterdam by an agent of Mazarin. The cardinal, a great lover of art, was considered as the richest man in the world.
This is a large piece, 64 x 145 x 73 cm. The total surface of black and gold lacquer is extraordinary: nearly 9 square meters including the inside of the lid. Despite its decades of incognito survival, it is in very good condition.
Above all, it represents by itself a synthesis of the decorative arts of Japan, with all the technical applications of lacquer including inlays of mother of pearl. The many figures of people, animals and palaces are exquisite.
The position of these chests in the history of furniture is great. It was to wait for more than half a century to get the fashion of commodes and desks decorated with lacquered panels.
POST SALE COMMENT
Purchased for the benefit of the Rijksmuseum, the chest will come back to Amsterdam three and a half centuries after being bought in this city by an agent of Mazarin. Its price, € 7.3 million including premium, confirms that Rouillac made a perfect analysis by considering it as a masterpiece.
At that time in Europe, the commode has not been invented, and the usual saving furniture is the coffre, without drawers. A wonderful chest kept in the Victoria and Albert Museum is part of a group of four shipped to Batavia on 1 October 1643. Its attested belonging to the Mazarin - La Meilleraye family suggests that it was acquired by the cardinal-minister. It is identified as the Mazarin chest.
The very detailed website of the museum devotes a full page to another chest from the same series, lamenting that its fate is unknown since 1941. Black and white photos show a panel and the top..
The lost piece was just found in a family that had no idea of its importance. It is listed in the annual prestige sale at the château de Cheverny by Rouillac on June 9. The auction house considers that it had been acquired circa 1658 in Amsterdam by an agent of Mazarin. The cardinal, a great lover of art, was considered as the richest man in the world.
This is a large piece, 64 x 145 x 73 cm. The total surface of black and gold lacquer is extraordinary: nearly 9 square meters including the inside of the lid. Despite its decades of incognito survival, it is in very good condition.
Above all, it represents by itself a synthesis of the decorative arts of Japan, with all the technical applications of lacquer including inlays of mother of pearl. The many figures of people, animals and palaces are exquisite.
The position of these chests in the history of furniture is great. It was to wait for more than half a century to get the fashion of commodes and desks decorated with lacquered panels.
POST SALE COMMENT
Purchased for the benefit of the Rijksmuseum, the chest will come back to Amsterdam three and a half centuries after being bought in this city by an agent of Mazarin. Its price, € 7.3 million including premium, confirms that Rouillac made a perfect analysis by considering it as a masterpiece.
Tableau de grand-mère, meubles délaissés… Et si vos objets de famille oubliés valaient des millions ? - https://t.co/Gll6BVUrn1 via @leditiondusoir
— ROUILLAC (@RouillacSas) September 19, 2022
1644 Still Life by Heda
2014 SOLD for £ 4.8M by Christie's
Willem Claesz Heda wanted that his paintings closely resemble the real objects. He succeeded in his goal by an extreme care in the textures and a detailed study of the reflections of light.
For four decades, he worked a single theme: the still life of foods and utensils for breakfast on a tablecloth covering almost the entire table. This choice was perhaps inspired by his early training as a painter of vanities. The fruit is ephemeral and the utensil is permanent.
In the 1630s, his composition is rigorous, in a great simplicity which certainly inspired the minimalism of Coorte half a century later. The foods are strictly included within the perimeter lines of the table top. Only the higher part of the utensils and the hanging lemon peel are beyond this zone.
On July 8, 2015, Sotheby's sold for £ 2.95M an oil on panel 59 x 80 cm painted in 1633, lot 12. This artwork is a good example of Heda's improved realism through a subtle treatment of light. The contrasted areas in the background indicate where daylight comes from. The surrounding that escapes direct vision is however visible in the multiple reflections of a single window, in glasses, silverware and olives but not in pewter.
Subsequent compositions with a crumpled tablecloth and an increased quantity of objects are more complex. The artist desired to demonstrate that his control of geometry could be applied not only to order but also to disorder.
An oil on panel 81 x 102 cm painted in 1644 was sold for £ 4.8M by Christie's on July 8, 2014 from a lower estimate of £ 1.5M, lot 31.
It features a blackberry pie on a pewter platter, a silver-gilded cup and cover, an upturned tazza, a partly-peeled lemon, a bread roll, hazelnuts, a façon-de-Venise glass, a silver decanter, a roemer, and a knife on a pewter platter, on a partly draped table.
For four decades, he worked a single theme: the still life of foods and utensils for breakfast on a tablecloth covering almost the entire table. This choice was perhaps inspired by his early training as a painter of vanities. The fruit is ephemeral and the utensil is permanent.
In the 1630s, his composition is rigorous, in a great simplicity which certainly inspired the minimalism of Coorte half a century later. The foods are strictly included within the perimeter lines of the table top. Only the higher part of the utensils and the hanging lemon peel are beyond this zone.
On July 8, 2015, Sotheby's sold for £ 2.95M an oil on panel 59 x 80 cm painted in 1633, lot 12. This artwork is a good example of Heda's improved realism through a subtle treatment of light. The contrasted areas in the background indicate where daylight comes from. The surrounding that escapes direct vision is however visible in the multiple reflections of a single window, in glasses, silverware and olives but not in pewter.
Subsequent compositions with a crumpled tablecloth and an increased quantity of objects are more complex. The artist desired to demonstrate that his control of geometry could be applied not only to order but also to disorder.
An oil on panel 81 x 102 cm painted in 1644 was sold for £ 4.8M by Christie's on July 8, 2014 from a lower estimate of £ 1.5M, lot 31.
It features a blackberry pie on a pewter platter, a silver-gilded cup and cover, an upturned tazza, a partly-peeled lemon, a bread roll, hazelnuts, a façon-de-Venise glass, a silver decanter, a roemer, and a knife on a pewter platter, on a partly draped table.
1648 Humility of Christ
2018 SOLD for £ 9.5M including premium
The end of the 1640s is very difficult for Rembrandt. He is a widower and his life with his son's nanny creates a scandal. Orders cease and his financial situation is very bad. He is nevertheless one of the best portrait painters of his time.
The scenes from the Gospels are part of his offer. In 1648 he paints The Pilgrims of Emmaus, oil on wood 68 x 65 cm preserved in the Musée du Louvre. Christ, who is of course the central character, responds to his traditional figuration, with waving hair covering his shoulders and with a short beard.
Rembrandt is more interested in the realism and psychology of faces than in mysticism. The young man who posed for the Emmaus scene is recognizable in a group of portraiture studies with various positions of the head that express the concentration of prayer and the humility, without a halo.
Two of these portraits were considered as autographs by the Rembrandt Research Project. The four or five other paintings in this group are copies of lost originals or imitations.
One of the two authentic portraits, oil on wood 25 x 21 cm, is kept at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin. The other one, in same technique and dimensions, is estimated £ 6M for sale by Sotheby's in London on December 5, lot 18. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The scenes from the Gospels are part of his offer. In 1648 he paints The Pilgrims of Emmaus, oil on wood 68 x 65 cm preserved in the Musée du Louvre. Christ, who is of course the central character, responds to his traditional figuration, with waving hair covering his shoulders and with a short beard.
Rembrandt is more interested in the realism and psychology of faces than in mysticism. The young man who posed for the Emmaus scene is recognizable in a group of portraiture studies with various positions of the head that express the concentration of prayer and the humility, without a halo.
Two of these portraits were considered as autographs by the Rembrandt Research Project. The four or five other paintings in this group are copies of lost originals or imitations.
One of the two authentic portraits, oil on wood 25 x 21 cm, is kept at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin. The other one, in same technique and dimensions, is estimated £ 6M for sale by Sotheby's in London on December 5, lot 18. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1646-1649 Artist Studio by Sweerts
2023 SOLD for £ 12.6M by Christie's
In Rome from 1626 to 1639, Pieter van Laer pejoratively nicknamed il Bamboccio created a new style of Italian genre of the lower classes inspired from Dutch and Flemish art.
His followers are joined from 1646 to 1652 or slightly later by the Brussels born Michael Sweerts. Nothing is known about the training of this elusive but eclectic artist.
The Artist Studio is one of the most popular scenes by Sweerts while in Rome. Several in period replicas are known, some of them probably partly autograph. In this complex image, the artist at his easel in the dark is looking at his model, a seamstress at work in full light. In the foreground an assistant looks at a huge accumulation of plaster busts.
A previously unknown Artist Studio is considered as the original. It is signed and located by Sweerts and is tentatively dated from his Roman beginnings between 1646 and 1649 for pre-dating the examples kept at the Rijksmuseum and at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
This oil on canvas 80 x 108 cm was sold for £ 12.6M from a lower estimate of £ 2M by Christie's on July 6, 2023, lot 6.
The sewing woman devoting her attention to her work anticipates Vermeer's lacemaker by two decades. Fallen like Vermeer in oblivion, Sweerts was rediscovered in 1907.
His followers are joined from 1646 to 1652 or slightly later by the Brussels born Michael Sweerts. Nothing is known about the training of this elusive but eclectic artist.
The Artist Studio is one of the most popular scenes by Sweerts while in Rome. Several in period replicas are known, some of them probably partly autograph. In this complex image, the artist at his easel in the dark is looking at his model, a seamstress at work in full light. In the foreground an assistant looks at a huge accumulation of plaster busts.
A previously unknown Artist Studio is considered as the original. It is signed and located by Sweerts and is tentatively dated from his Roman beginnings between 1646 and 1649 for pre-dating the examples kept at the Rijksmuseum and at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
This oil on canvas 80 x 108 cm was sold for £ 12.6M from a lower estimate of £ 2M by Christie's on July 6, 2023, lot 6.
The sewing woman devoting her attention to her work anticipates Vermeer's lacemaker by two decades. Fallen like Vermeer in oblivion, Sweerts was rediscovered in 1907.
#AuctionUpdate #MichaelSweerts's 'The Artist's Studio with a Seamstress' sold for £12,615,000 (x6 its low estimate) achieving a #WorldAuctionRecord for the artist. In a large studio, a painter sits at an easel with his back to the viewer turning in profile to observe his subject. pic.twitter.com/wfVQ72UbGs
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) July 6, 2023
