Decade 1650-1659
See also : Ancient painting Rembrandt Ancient Spain Early Qing Chinese calligraphy Islam Persia Textiles Safavid carpets
Safavid - The Béhague Carpet
2010 SOLD for £ 6.2M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2021
A Kirman carpet was released from anonymity on April 15, 2010 at a Christie's sale in London when it was sold for £ 6.2M including premium from a lower estimate of £ 200K, lot 100. The press revealed that it had been sold six months earlier in Augsburg from an estimate of € 800 by a local auctioneer who refused to publish the result.
This wool carpet is knotted using the intricate Vase technique, suggesting that it was woven in the royal workshops of the Safavid dynasty. It measures 339 x 153 cm and is in outstanding condition except for a few tiny repairs and some corrosion of the black threads. It had been commented in 1938 by an expert who stated for its provenance the prestigious collection of the comtesse de Béhague.
The golden age of Kirman carpets is the reign of Abbas I, who died in 1629 CE. The Béhague carpet is characterized by a very elegant simplification of shapes that Christie's positions around the mid-17th century.
In a magnificent geometric regularity, parallel stems support several pairs of leaves. From top to bottom, the leaves of one stem alternate with the leaves from the adjacent stem. Tiny flowers are inserted into the spaces between the leaves. This decoration anticipates the repetition of flowers and leaves in the highly popular Herati pattern and may evoke some figures from the Iznik ceramics.
This wool carpet is knotted using the intricate Vase technique, suggesting that it was woven in the royal workshops of the Safavid dynasty. It measures 339 x 153 cm and is in outstanding condition except for a few tiny repairs and some corrosion of the black threads. It had been commented in 1938 by an expert who stated for its provenance the prestigious collection of the comtesse de Béhague.
The golden age of Kirman carpets is the reign of Abbas I, who died in 1629 CE. The Béhague carpet is characterized by a very elegant simplification of shapes that Christie's positions around the mid-17th century.
In a magnificent geometric regularity, parallel stems support several pairs of leaves. From top to bottom, the leaves of one stem alternate with the leaves from the adjacent stem. Tiny flowers are inserted into the spaces between the leaves. This decoration anticipates the repetition of flowers and leaves in the highly popular Herati pattern and may evoke some figures from the Iznik ceramics.
1650 Sunrise on a Roman Seaport
2013 SOLD 5 M£ including premium
Claude Gellée, whose artist name is Le Lorrain, is a contemporary of Poussin. Both are working in Rome, the capital of the arts, but their vision is different. Lorrain is not a mystic. He is interested in landscapes in extreme daylights.
On December 3 in London, Christie's sells an oil on canvas 101 x 135 cm, estimated £ 3M, recently rediscovered after having remained out of sight for more than a century.
This painting was done in 1650 on order of a cardinal. The artist honors a local saint: during the reign of the pious emperor Theodosius, a woman named Paula left Rome to live the hermit adventure under the direction of Jerome who is indeed the only recorder of her hagiography.
From the perspective of Christian iconography this action is not spectacular, but the sunrise on a fancy Mediterranean seaport is sumptuous. Much later, Turner complacently recognized the considerable influence of Lorrain on his own vision.
The antique columns that close the left edge of the picture anticipate by more than half a century the fashion of the Roman capricci and the tall ships are worthy of a van de Velde.
POST SALE COMMENT
The quality and rarity of this painting led it to £ 5M including premium.
On December 3 in London, Christie's sells an oil on canvas 101 x 135 cm, estimated £ 3M, recently rediscovered after having remained out of sight for more than a century.
This painting was done in 1650 on order of a cardinal. The artist honors a local saint: during the reign of the pious emperor Theodosius, a woman named Paula left Rome to live the hermit adventure under the direction of Jerome who is indeed the only recorder of her hagiography.
From the perspective of Christian iconography this action is not spectacular, but the sunrise on a fancy Mediterranean seaport is sumptuous. Much later, Turner complacently recognized the considerable influence of Lorrain on his own vision.
The antique columns that close the left edge of the picture anticipate by more than half a century the fashion of the Roman capricci and the tall ships are worthy of a van de Velde.
POST SALE COMMENT
The quality and rarity of this painting led it to £ 5M including premium.
1650 Velazquez in Rome
2018 SOLD for $ 4.1M including premium
The skills of Diego Velazquez are recognized in the court of King Felipe IV who names him ayuda de camara (valet) in 1643 and superintendente de obras (superintendent of works) in the following year. Having thus become one of the closest collaborators of the king, he requests and obtains a mission in Italy to acquire paintings and sculptures worthy of the royal collection.
His first stay in Italy in 1629-1630 had much contributed to his artistic training but he was still unknown in that country when he arrived in Rome in 1649. He immediately portrayed his assistant, the mulatto slave Juan de Pareja. The Romans were dazzled by the physical and psychological resemblance between man and painting. Velazquez is the best portraitist of his time, or even of all time.
The doors open wide for Velazquez. In August 1650 Pope Innocent X sits for him. The artist wants to do better than Titian and takes a great care in the attitude and in the colors. Admiring the masterpiece, the pope famously says : "Troppo vero".
Major prelates now desire a similar portrait of them. At that time Velazquez works slowly. If he accepts, he endangers the mission for his king while his return is awaited with an impatience soon to be officially notified. If he refuses, he loses his best protectors for the acquisition of the works of art promised to the king.
The portrait of Monsignor Cristoforo Segni reveals the clever solution found by Velazquez. This outstanding person sits in an armchair and holds a paper in his hand, on the model of the portrait of the pope. The paper has the same role of identifying the artist and the prelate. For Segni the name of another artist, Pietro Martire Neri, is also indicated near that text.
This double authentication has puzzled all art historians, especially since no collaboration between Velazquez and Neri has ever been documented. The sharpness and expression of the face could however not have been achieved by Neri whose personal known work is rather mediocre. Segni's head is an autograph painting by Velazquez. Neri completed the rest, possibly after the departure of Velazquez from Rome.
This oil on canvas 114 x 92 cm is estimated $ 3M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on February 1, lot 48. The image is shared by Wikimedia. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
His first stay in Italy in 1629-1630 had much contributed to his artistic training but he was still unknown in that country when he arrived in Rome in 1649. He immediately portrayed his assistant, the mulatto slave Juan de Pareja. The Romans were dazzled by the physical and psychological resemblance between man and painting. Velazquez is the best portraitist of his time, or even of all time.
The doors open wide for Velazquez. In August 1650 Pope Innocent X sits for him. The artist wants to do better than Titian and takes a great care in the attitude and in the colors. Admiring the masterpiece, the pope famously says : "Troppo vero".
Major prelates now desire a similar portrait of them. At that time Velazquez works slowly. If he accepts, he endangers the mission for his king while his return is awaited with an impatience soon to be officially notified. If he refuses, he loses his best protectors for the acquisition of the works of art promised to the king.
The portrait of Monsignor Cristoforo Segni reveals the clever solution found by Velazquez. This outstanding person sits in an armchair and holds a paper in his hand, on the model of the portrait of the pope. The paper has the same role of identifying the artist and the prelate. For Segni the name of another artist, Pietro Martire Neri, is also indicated near that text.
This double authentication has puzzled all art historians, especially since no collaboration between Velazquez and Neri has ever been documented. The sharpness and expression of the face could however not have been achieved by Neri whose personal known work is rather mediocre. Segni's head is an autograph painting by Velazquez. Neri completed the rest, possibly after the departure of Velazquez from Rome.
This oil on canvas 114 x 92 cm is estimated $ 3M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on February 1, lot 48. The image is shared by Wikimedia. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
1651 The Baroque Myths of Guercino
2010 SOLD 5.2 M£ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Born in Italy but masterfully continued by Rubens, the Baroque art is rooted in an unconditional Christianity which is however questioning other sources of mysticism.
Guercino, who works in Bologna, is a typical Italian painter of this movement. We discussed him recently in this column, illustrating a Tasso's theme about the impossible relationship between Christians and Muslims during the Crusades. His work is characterized by the emotion in the action, and catches the eyes through the quality of colors.
In 1651, in the purest Baroque trend, an Italian knight places an order to him for a pair of paintings, a Prophet and a Sibyl. The prophet will be King David, considered in the Bible as the ancestor of Christ. The Sibyl is a classical theme recovered from paganism, by the fact that their exegetes saw Christian announcements in some of their words.
The pair of paintings came in 1768 to adorn Spencer House, the London residence of the rich and powerful family who wanted to be the arbiter of taste. On July 6 in London, Lord Spencer and his trustees put up for sale at Christie's the King David of Guercino, estimated £ 5 million.
This large oil on canvas, 223 x 170 cm, shows the Hebrew prophet in his middle age, seated, calm and dignified, displaying a tablet with a text of the Psalms.
POST SALE COMMENT
This large size painting by Guercino was probably the most important work of this artist to be presented at auction, and it was fresh on the market. The estimate was too high, but the sale is successful: £ 5.2 million including premium.
Born in Italy but masterfully continued by Rubens, the Baroque art is rooted in an unconditional Christianity which is however questioning other sources of mysticism.
Guercino, who works in Bologna, is a typical Italian painter of this movement. We discussed him recently in this column, illustrating a Tasso's theme about the impossible relationship between Christians and Muslims during the Crusades. His work is characterized by the emotion in the action, and catches the eyes through the quality of colors.
In 1651, in the purest Baroque trend, an Italian knight places an order to him for a pair of paintings, a Prophet and a Sibyl. The prophet will be King David, considered in the Bible as the ancestor of Christ. The Sibyl is a classical theme recovered from paganism, by the fact that their exegetes saw Christian announcements in some of their words.
The pair of paintings came in 1768 to adorn Spencer House, the London residence of the rich and powerful family who wanted to be the arbiter of taste. On July 6 in London, Lord Spencer and his trustees put up for sale at Christie's the King David of Guercino, estimated £ 5 million.
This large oil on canvas, 223 x 170 cm, shows the Hebrew prophet in his middle age, seated, calm and dignified, displaying a tablet with a text of the Psalms.
POST SALE COMMENT
This large size painting by Guercino was probably the most important work of this artist to be presented at auction, and it was fresh on the market. The estimate was too high, but the sale is successful: £ 5.2 million including premium.
Marine
1
1653 by van de Cappelle
2005 SOLD for £ 3.6M by Christie's
Jan van de Cappelle is the son of a rich cloth dyer from Amsterdam. Compared to the period offer on the art market, his financial means are unlimited. He is in his own right a prolific draftsman and a talented painter. From 1645 to 1679, between his first dated painting and his untimely death, he is the specialist of calm marines, undoubtedly under the influence of his friend Simon de Vlieger.
Van de Cappelle observes the reflections of gray clouds in the rippling waters of shores and harbors. The blue sky and the storms as well as wars and shipwrecks do not concern him. Like Heda in Haarlem for still lifes, he follows with great realism the complex paths of light.
He does not belong to any guild and therefore in principle does not have the right to sell his art. Yet very few of his own paintings are found in the fabulous inventory of his deceased estate. He certainly had a practice of exchange with the greatest masters. His art evolves little, making it very difficult to date his works.
He is the only person whose portrait was painted by both Rembrandt and Hals. He owned more than 500 drawings by Rembrandt, acquired in the opportunities of the financial difficulties of the master, plus 1,300 by de Vlieger, 900 by Avercamp and 400 by van Goyen. His collection of nearly 200 paintings included Dutch, Flemish and German top artists.
An oil on canvas 48 x 53 cm dated 1653 was sold for £ 3.6M from a lower estimate of £ 1M by Christie's on July 8, 2005, lot 33. The calm sea is populated by a kaag and a smak with several boats beyond. In the foreground, fishermen pull in their catch from a rowing boat. The silvery palette and the light brush stokes are typical of early van de Cappelle art. The cloudy sky is expressive.
Van de Cappelle observes the reflections of gray clouds in the rippling waters of shores and harbors. The blue sky and the storms as well as wars and shipwrecks do not concern him. Like Heda in Haarlem for still lifes, he follows with great realism the complex paths of light.
He does not belong to any guild and therefore in principle does not have the right to sell his art. Yet very few of his own paintings are found in the fabulous inventory of his deceased estate. He certainly had a practice of exchange with the greatest masters. His art evolves little, making it very difficult to date his works.
He is the only person whose portrait was painted by both Rembrandt and Hals. He owned more than 500 drawings by Rembrandt, acquired in the opportunities of the financial difficulties of the master, plus 1,300 by de Vlieger, 900 by Avercamp and 400 by van Goyen. His collection of nearly 200 paintings included Dutch, Flemish and German top artists.
An oil on canvas 48 x 53 cm dated 1653 was sold for £ 3.6M from a lower estimate of £ 1M by Christie's on July 8, 2005, lot 33. The calm sea is populated by a kaag and a smak with several boats beyond. In the foreground, fishermen pull in their catch from a rowing boat. The silvery palette and the light brush stokes are typical of early van de Cappelle art. The cloudy sky is expressive.
2
1650s by van de Cappelle
2019 SOLD for $ 4.8M by Sotheby's
On January 30, 2019, Sotheby's sold for $ 4.8M an oil on panel 62 x 83 cm painted by van de Cappelle probably in the 1650s, lot 61.
It displays a shipping scene on a calm sea with many boars and figures. The shore is represented by a jetty on the left border. Clouds and sea are luminous in a great atmospheric effect. The sails are improved by golden tones.
In the same sale and from the same collection, other rare paintings by outsider artists were listed : one by Joachim Wtewael and two by Jacobus Vrel.
It displays a shipping scene on a calm sea with many boars and figures. The shore is represented by a jetty on the left border. Clouds and sea are luminous in a great atmospheric effect. The sails are improved by golden tones.
In the same sale and from the same collection, other rare paintings by outsider artists were listed : one by Joachim Wtewael and two by Jacobus Vrel.
3
mid 1650s A Calm by Willem van de Velde II
2012 SOLD for £ 4.1M by Christie's
Willem van de Velde II began his career in the early 1650s under the influence of Simon de Vlieger at Weesp in the vicinity of Amsterdam.
On July 3, 2012, Christie's sold for £ 4.1M from a lower estimate of £ 2.5M A Calm, lot 18. The scene features a smalschip and a kaag with a man-of-war beyond. It may be dated in the mid 1650s by comparison with the calm marines by de Vlieger's friend Jan van de Cappelle. Willem II was working at that time in Amsterdam in the studio of his father Willem I of pen painting fame.
The exceptional condition of this oil on panel 51 x 45 cm maintains the bright atmosphere of a summer day on the water under airy voluminous clouds. The compared sizes of the boats provide an illusion of increasing distance. The calm weather enables a sharp reflection of the boats in the water. A thick paint over a specific preparation of the panel adds to the smoothness of that scenery.
On July 3, 2012, Christie's sold for £ 4.1M from a lower estimate of £ 2.5M A Calm, lot 18. The scene features a smalschip and a kaag with a man-of-war beyond. It may be dated in the mid 1650s by comparison with the calm marines by de Vlieger's friend Jan van de Cappelle. Willem II was working at that time in Amsterdam in the studio of his father Willem I of pen painting fame.
The exceptional condition of this oil on panel 51 x 45 cm maintains the bright atmosphere of a summer day on the water under airy voluminous clouds. The compared sizes of the boats provide an illusion of increasing distance. The calm weather enables a sharp reflection of the boats in the water. A thick paint over a specific preparation of the panel adds to the smoothness of that scenery.
1655 Vermeer's Pigments
2014 SOLD 6.2 M£ including premium
Johannes Vermeer began his career in Delft at the best period of Dutch painting. The details of the development of his artistic genius are a mystery. Son of an innkeeper also involved as a merchant of art, he is probably self-taught.
His early works are copies: Diana and her companions from Jacob van Loo, and Christ in the House of Martha and Mary from Erasmus Quellin. The young artist exercised his skills in mythological and Christian themes.
In 1969, the discovery of the ancient unretouched inscription 'Meer 1655' in a copy of a Florentine painting starts a long series of analyzes and assumptions. This oil on canvas 102 x 82 cm on the theme of Saint Praxedis is accepted since 1986 as a genuine Vermeer. The isotopic analysis of lead white pigment later confirmed this attribution.
Lead white enables to compare the location. This color was common and artists did not carry it in their travels. Particles collected in the white of Diana and Praxedis reveal a strictly identical composition.
The ultramarine blue paint in the sky of Praxedis is also interesting because it was a very expensive pigment. Its use by a novice painter is a proof of his commitment to perfection and of his ambition.
The image shows Praxedis wringing a sponge soaked with the blood of a beheaded martyr visible in the background. Her hands clasped in that action also hold a crucifix. This rare and poignant scene has certainly moved Vermeer who had converted to Catholicism when he married two years earlier.
The three works mentioned above are the whole of the known work of Vermeer before he specialized in the contemporary themes that will ensure his glory.
The Saint Praxedis by Vermeer is estimated £ 6M for sale by Christie's in London on July 8.
POST SALE COMMENT
This very interesting and extremely rare example from the formative years of Vermeer was sold for £ 6.2 million including premium.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
His early works are copies: Diana and her companions from Jacob van Loo, and Christ in the House of Martha and Mary from Erasmus Quellin. The young artist exercised his skills in mythological and Christian themes.
In 1969, the discovery of the ancient unretouched inscription 'Meer 1655' in a copy of a Florentine painting starts a long series of analyzes and assumptions. This oil on canvas 102 x 82 cm on the theme of Saint Praxedis is accepted since 1986 as a genuine Vermeer. The isotopic analysis of lead white pigment later confirmed this attribution.
Lead white enables to compare the location. This color was common and artists did not carry it in their travels. Particles collected in the white of Diana and Praxedis reveal a strictly identical composition.
The ultramarine blue paint in the sky of Praxedis is also interesting because it was a very expensive pigment. Its use by a novice painter is a proof of his commitment to perfection and of his ambition.
The image shows Praxedis wringing a sponge soaked with the blood of a beheaded martyr visible in the background. Her hands clasped in that action also hold a crucifix. This rare and poignant scene has certainly moved Vermeer who had converted to Catholicism when he married two years earlier.
The three works mentioned above are the whole of the known work of Vermeer before he specialized in the contemporary themes that will ensure his glory.
The Saint Praxedis by Vermeer is estimated £ 6M for sale by Christie's in London on July 8.
POST SALE COMMENT
This very interesting and extremely rare example from the formative years of Vermeer was sold for £ 6.2 million including premium.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1658 Rembrandt and Experts
2009 SOLD 20.2 M£ including premium
This morning in London, Christie's has invited the press to unveil a painting by Rembrandt that will be sold on December 8. This is sensible: the market for ancient art has a reputation of being little affected by the financial crisis.
It is a half-length portrait of a man, painted in 1658. It had not been seen publicly since 1970 and has not participated in the major exhibition made by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in 2006 to celebrate the 400 th anniversary of the birth of the artist. It is estimated £ 18 million.
Rembrandt is the best studied artist in the world. Under the name of Rembrandt Research Project, a multidisciplinary team has been working since 1968 to authenticate or refute all the works that could be attributed to the master. This team, which was renewed several times, includes art historians and scientists.
Among the scientific methods used, we first think of the X-ray, of course. Do not neglect the dendrochronology, which allows to date the felling of the oak trees whose panels were used by the master. Historians, meanwhile, compared the artworks together by considering a consistency of style in order to separate the works of the master from those of his employees.
This work sponsored by the University of Amsterdam is extremely important. Thanks to these pioneers the ancient art has become the most exciting area of artistic expertise.
ADDENDUM
Small precision now that the official press release from Christie's is available on the web: the artwork for sale is on canvas, 107 x 87 cm.
My comments on dendrochronology do not apply to this work.
POST SALE COMMENT
The release by Christie's on Twitter expresses the essential: Rembrandt sells for £ 20.2M : the world auction record for a Rembrandt and the 4th highest price for an old master painting at auction.
The quoted price includes the premium.
I would add that this Rembrandt was important but not to the point of being described as historic. It is therefore quite understandable that it has not exceeded its estimate.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
It is a half-length portrait of a man, painted in 1658. It had not been seen publicly since 1970 and has not participated in the major exhibition made by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in 2006 to celebrate the 400 th anniversary of the birth of the artist. It is estimated £ 18 million.
Rembrandt is the best studied artist in the world. Under the name of Rembrandt Research Project, a multidisciplinary team has been working since 1968 to authenticate or refute all the works that could be attributed to the master. This team, which was renewed several times, includes art historians and scientists.
Among the scientific methods used, we first think of the X-ray, of course. Do not neglect the dendrochronology, which allows to date the felling of the oak trees whose panels were used by the master. Historians, meanwhile, compared the artworks together by considering a consistency of style in order to separate the works of the master from those of his employees.
This work sponsored by the University of Amsterdam is extremely important. Thanks to these pioneers the ancient art has become the most exciting area of artistic expertise.
ADDENDUM
Small precision now that the official press release from Christie's is available on the web: the artwork for sale is on canvas, 107 x 87 cm.
My comments on dendrochronology do not apply to this work.
POST SALE COMMENT
The release by Christie's on Twitter expresses the essential: Rembrandt sells for £ 20.2M : the world auction record for a Rembrandt and the 4th highest price for an old master painting at auction.
The quoted price includes the premium.
I would add that this Rembrandt was important but not to the point of being described as historic. It is therefore quite understandable that it has not exceeded its estimate.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The Hermit of Anhui
2021 SOLD for HK$ 128M including premium
In 1644 CE the fall of the Ming maddened the literati. The Qing are foreigners. What will happen with the Chinese cultural tradition based on the accumulation of styles and knowledge throughout the historical period ? Collusion with the new regime is unthinkable. Zhu Da and Shitao become Buddhist monks.
Jiang Tao participates in the Ming resistance in the south. In 1646, when the situation is desperate, he becomes a monk and seeks the Zen Buddhism in the mountains of Anhui, his native province. His monk name is Hongren meaning Vast Humanity. He will express the infinite tranquility of nature by taking as a master the artist Ni Zan of the later Yuan.
In 1836 CE a traveler found Hongren's abandoned tomb at the foot of a mountain in Anhui and restored it while replanting plum trees, the blossoms of which the hermit painter had so loved. A few months later, one of his friends, who was an antiquarian monk, bought in a shop an album signed and dedicated by Hongren. It is complete except for the last page of calligraphy and they are remounting it while adding colophons.
The 19 x 13 cm album is made up of ten leaves of paintings and nine leaves of calligraphy, plus the colophons. The paintings in inks and colors feature the mountains rising to the sky in the best Chinese pictorial tradition. The scenery includes a few houses but no mankind except for a fisherman in his boat in the third image. The line is thin, with a geometric simplification of the rocks. The calligraphy is a poem from the early Ming period by Shen Zhou. The terminus ante quem is the artist's death around 1664.
It is estimated HK $ 45M for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on April 19, lot 3076. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Jiang Tao participates in the Ming resistance in the south. In 1646, when the situation is desperate, he becomes a monk and seeks the Zen Buddhism in the mountains of Anhui, his native province. His monk name is Hongren meaning Vast Humanity. He will express the infinite tranquility of nature by taking as a master the artist Ni Zan of the later Yuan.
In 1836 CE a traveler found Hongren's abandoned tomb at the foot of a mountain in Anhui and restored it while replanting plum trees, the blossoms of which the hermit painter had so loved. A few months later, one of his friends, who was an antiquarian monk, bought in a shop an album signed and dedicated by Hongren. It is complete except for the last page of calligraphy and they are remounting it while adding colophons.
The 19 x 13 cm album is made up of ten leaves of paintings and nine leaves of calligraphy, plus the colophons. The paintings in inks and colors feature the mountains rising to the sky in the best Chinese pictorial tradition. The scenery includes a few houses but no mankind except for a fisherman in his boat in the third image. The line is thin, with a geometric simplification of the rocks. The calligraphy is a poem from the early Ming period by Shen Zhou. The terminus ante quem is the artist's death around 1664.
It is estimated HK $ 45M for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on April 19, lot 3076. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
