Oil on Copper
breakthrough
1606 Still Life of Flowers by Jan Brueghel
Pinacoteca Ambrosiana
A precocious artist, Jan Brueghel found patrons in Italy. Back in Antwerp in 1596, he remains in touch with the young cardinal Federico Borromeo recently appointed Archbishop of Milan.
Tastes change. Religious wars bring a political suspicion towards religious themes. In Prague Rudolf II prefers the observation of nature to his political commitments. Hoefnagel draws and paints for that emperor some collections of flowers and animals.
Borromeo desired a representation of blossoms in the whole variety of their shapes and colors for brightening his living throughout the year, so enjoying nature even outside the blooming period.
Brueghel's artistic process is documented by his 1606 letters to Borromeo while a prototype painting was in progress.
After choosing the varieties of the flowers, he had to wait for their blossoming which was not simultaneous, in spring and summer. Each bloom in its full glorious development was added in its turn on the copper in a pre-defined position. They were drawn from nature without an intermediary drawing. In his quest for exactness he had also travelled to Brussels to observe some blossoms which were not available in Antwerp.
The referred masterpiece is now kept at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
It is an oil on copper 65 x 45 cm, a very large size for this technique at that time. The great variety of brilliant colors met the expectation of the cardinal. The overcrowding of the flowers in the vase is unrealistic : it is an artistic trick to escape the didactic alignments of Hoefnagel. Brueghel's intention was not mystical or scientific. He desired to compare the beauty of the flowers to that of gemstones and paid the utmost attention to colors and light. He was obviously happy with his achievement.
The major picture from the next year 1607 is now kept at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. It is a 51 x 40 cm oil on panel, the best technique after the copper for the precision of the brushwork and the conservation of the pigments, less demanding in terms of skills. Customers were appealed by this novelty and Brueghel certainly painted a few panels in parallel.
A large oil on oak panel 67 x 51 cm was sold for £ 3.85M by Sotheby's on July 6, 2016, lot 11. It is a slightly later development with a looser and more pleasing arrangement of the flowers, dated circa 1608 by experts. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The artist gave up soon although not before 1611 the painting of flowers by direct observation and these early works will then serve as modelli. The goal remains decorative. Other artists will add the use of flowers and small animals as symbols and also the arrangements inside wreaths.
Tastes change. Religious wars bring a political suspicion towards religious themes. In Prague Rudolf II prefers the observation of nature to his political commitments. Hoefnagel draws and paints for that emperor some collections of flowers and animals.
Borromeo desired a representation of blossoms in the whole variety of their shapes and colors for brightening his living throughout the year, so enjoying nature even outside the blooming period.
Brueghel's artistic process is documented by his 1606 letters to Borromeo while a prototype painting was in progress.
After choosing the varieties of the flowers, he had to wait for their blossoming which was not simultaneous, in spring and summer. Each bloom in its full glorious development was added in its turn on the copper in a pre-defined position. They were drawn from nature without an intermediary drawing. In his quest for exactness he had also travelled to Brussels to observe some blossoms which were not available in Antwerp.
The referred masterpiece is now kept at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
It is an oil on copper 65 x 45 cm, a very large size for this technique at that time. The great variety of brilliant colors met the expectation of the cardinal. The overcrowding of the flowers in the vase is unrealistic : it is an artistic trick to escape the didactic alignments of Hoefnagel. Brueghel's intention was not mystical or scientific. He desired to compare the beauty of the flowers to that of gemstones and paid the utmost attention to colors and light. He was obviously happy with his achievement.
The major picture from the next year 1607 is now kept at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. It is a 51 x 40 cm oil on panel, the best technique after the copper for the precision of the brushwork and the conservation of the pigments, less demanding in terms of skills. Customers were appealed by this novelty and Brueghel certainly painted a few panels in parallel.
A large oil on oak panel 67 x 51 cm was sold for £ 3.85M by Sotheby's on July 6, 2016, lot 11. It is a slightly later development with a looser and more pleasing arrangement of the flowers, dated circa 1608 by experts. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The artist gave up soon although not before 1611 the painting of flowers by direct observation and these early works will then serve as modelli. The goal remains decorative. Other artists will add the use of flowers and small animals as symbols and also the arrangements inside wreaths.
_-_Vase_of_Flowers_with_Jewellery,_Coins_and_Shells_-_WGA03593.jpg)
1608 Bouquet by Bosschaert
2008 SOLD for CHF 5.8M by Koller
At the time of the development of botanical gardens and pleasure gardens, the bouquet of flowers discreetly animated by insects and lizards becomes an autonomous theme in painting. It has as precursors Dürer and Hoefnagel.
The tradition of Dürer's naturalistic image had been maintained at Nuremberg by Hans Hoffmann. Accompanying the craze for cabinets of curiosity, Hoefnagel gathered images of plants and small animals in disparate and didactic alignments that somewhat evoke the insect boxes of our modern entomologists.
The island town of Middelburg in Zeeland had a strong cultural and scientific activity including an important botanical garden. In 1593 Bosschaert is identified as a member of the local guild of Saint Luke. His earliest dated paintings, in 1605, are full-page images in the style of Hoefnagel.
Bosschaert and Brueghel invent the painting of bouquets in a vase in 1606. Working for Cardinal Borromeo but residing in Antwerp, Brueghel paints opulent accumulations mixing flowers of all seasons.
Bosschaert paints simpler arrangements on copper in small format. In this early phase we must not look for a specific meaning behind each flower. It must instead be considered that the cultivation of ornamental flowers, imported from the East and modified by skillful hybridizers, is considered as a top luxury in the Netherlands of his time. Ambitious and aware of the importance of his art, Bosschaert signs with a monogram AB imitating the AD of Dürer.
Ambrosius Bosschaert the elder is so named today to distinguish him from his son Ambrosius. The latter, the elder's other sons Abraham and Johannes, and his brother in law and pupil Balthasar van der Ast also painted still lifes. The technique on copper allows a great naturalistic precision.
On July 10, 2002, Sotheby's sold for £ 2.1M a Bouquet in a window, oil on copper 28 x 23 cm by the elder and for £ 950K an oval oil on copper made in 1624 by Balthasar.
An oil on copper 26 x 18 cm by the elder depicting a bouquet of flowers in a glass, a butterfly and a shell was sold for CHF 5.8M from a lower estimate of CHF 2.5M by Koller on September 19, 2008. The composition, well centered, highlights the tulips. The painting is monogramed AB, and includes a trace of date: 160., probably 1608. This piece is in exceptional condition after being kept for 150 years in the same collection.
With a very similar composition, another oil on copper by the elder, 30 x 20 cm, was sold for £ 1.75M by Sotheby's in London in July 2000. The flowers were more numerous and less dispersed. In both works, the glass is almost identical.
On January 30, 2019, Sotheby's sold for $ 3M an oil on copper 24 x 18 cm painted by Bosschaert the in 1607, lot 26, displaying other flowers in a similar composition.
The tradition of Dürer's naturalistic image had been maintained at Nuremberg by Hans Hoffmann. Accompanying the craze for cabinets of curiosity, Hoefnagel gathered images of plants and small animals in disparate and didactic alignments that somewhat evoke the insect boxes of our modern entomologists.
The island town of Middelburg in Zeeland had a strong cultural and scientific activity including an important botanical garden. In 1593 Bosschaert is identified as a member of the local guild of Saint Luke. His earliest dated paintings, in 1605, are full-page images in the style of Hoefnagel.
Bosschaert and Brueghel invent the painting of bouquets in a vase in 1606. Working for Cardinal Borromeo but residing in Antwerp, Brueghel paints opulent accumulations mixing flowers of all seasons.
Bosschaert paints simpler arrangements on copper in small format. In this early phase we must not look for a specific meaning behind each flower. It must instead be considered that the cultivation of ornamental flowers, imported from the East and modified by skillful hybridizers, is considered as a top luxury in the Netherlands of his time. Ambitious and aware of the importance of his art, Bosschaert signs with a monogram AB imitating the AD of Dürer.
Ambrosius Bosschaert the elder is so named today to distinguish him from his son Ambrosius. The latter, the elder's other sons Abraham and Johannes, and his brother in law and pupil Balthasar van der Ast also painted still lifes. The technique on copper allows a great naturalistic precision.
On July 10, 2002, Sotheby's sold for £ 2.1M a Bouquet in a window, oil on copper 28 x 23 cm by the elder and for £ 950K an oval oil on copper made in 1624 by Balthasar.
An oil on copper 26 x 18 cm by the elder depicting a bouquet of flowers in a glass, a butterfly and a shell was sold for CHF 5.8M from a lower estimate of CHF 2.5M by Koller on September 19, 2008. The composition, well centered, highlights the tulips. The painting is monogramed AB, and includes a trace of date: 160., probably 1608. This piece is in exceptional condition after being kept for 150 years in the same collection.
With a very similar composition, another oil on copper by the elder, 30 x 20 cm, was sold for £ 1.75M by Sotheby's in London in July 2000. The flowers were more numerous and less dispersed. In both works, the glass is almost identical.
On January 30, 2019, Sotheby's sold for $ 3M an oil on copper 24 x 18 cm painted by Bosschaert the in 1607, lot 26, displaying other flowers in a similar composition.
WTEWAEL
Intro
The son of a glassmaker in Utrecht, Joachim Wtewael learns painting on glass, which requires the mastery of bright colors and the sharpness of lines of a miniaturist in a smooth polishing. He early becomes one of the best practitioners of copper painting which demands similar skills.
Wtewael makes his whole career in Utrecht where he is a founding member of the local guild of Saint Luke. He is also a rich merchant of flax fiber and does not need to operate a full workshop. He did not have an apprentice. The rarer spelling Uytewael better helps to pronounce his name.
The available iconography is abundant. Bartholomäus Spranger was painting funny mythological groups in the nude for the emperor Rudolf II. In Haarlem, Hendrik Goltzius widely distributes these images by his engravings and adds new themes in his own paintings. The Mannerist style brings strength to the muscular bodies of men and a charming lasciviousness in the elongated bodies of women. Cupid excites everyone.
A fashion is for the intimate closets, predecessors to the boudoirs. Until about 1612, Wtewael provides his clients with small copper paintings that are not intended to be displayed in public and could even be hidden in the binding of a book. In parallel his larger formats on canvas or wood are less risque.
Wtewael uses copper for his most complex themes, with a host of characters in various positions. He often reuses the same themes and figures. For his most complex miniatures, he organizes the action in several fields with differences in brightness. These mythological scenes thus become an anthology of free life, sometimes up to carnal intercourse.
As for pictural style, Wtewael however does not influence his countrymen the truculent Caravaggisti of Utrecht.
Wtewael makes his whole career in Utrecht where he is a founding member of the local guild of Saint Luke. He is also a rich merchant of flax fiber and does not need to operate a full workshop. He did not have an apprentice. The rarer spelling Uytewael better helps to pronounce his name.
The available iconography is abundant. Bartholomäus Spranger was painting funny mythological groups in the nude for the emperor Rudolf II. In Haarlem, Hendrik Goltzius widely distributes these images by his engravings and adds new themes in his own paintings. The Mannerist style brings strength to the muscular bodies of men and a charming lasciviousness in the elongated bodies of women. Cupid excites everyone.
A fashion is for the intimate closets, predecessors to the boudoirs. Until about 1612, Wtewael provides his clients with small copper paintings that are not intended to be displayed in public and could even be hidden in the binding of a book. In parallel his larger formats on canvas or wood are less risque.
Wtewael uses copper for his most complex themes, with a host of characters in various positions. He often reuses the same themes and figures. For his most complex miniatures, he organizes the action in several fields with differences in brightness. These mythological scenes thus become an anthology of free life, sometimes up to carnal intercourse.
As for pictural style, Wtewael however does not influence his countrymen the truculent Caravaggisti of Utrecht.
1
1608 Diana and Actaeon
2019 SOLD for £ 4.6M by Sotheby's
Diana and Actaeon, oil on copper 16 x 21 cm painted in 1608, was sold for £ 4.6M by Sotheby's on July 3, 2019, lot 14.
This narrative scene from Ovid shows the moment when Diana had just sent her spell to the hunter. She is identified by the crescent moon above her head. Now that the risk is neutralized, these ladies resume their activities as if nothing had happened, displaying in full light their quiet nudity.
For Actaeon, nothing works anymore. His tall silhouette in the dim light is already head dressed with stag antlers. His dogs are agitated. A few moments later, when the metamorphosis will be complete, they will devour him.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house, also featuring a monumental Magdalene by Johann Liss.
This narrative scene from Ovid shows the moment when Diana had just sent her spell to the hunter. She is identified by the crescent moon above her head. Now that the risk is neutralized, these ladies resume their activities as if nothing had happened, displaying in full light their quiet nudity.
For Actaeon, nothing works anymore. His tall silhouette in the dim light is already head dressed with stag antlers. His dogs are agitated. A few moments later, when the metamorphosis will be complete, they will devour him.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house, also featuring a monumental Magdalene by Johann Liss.
#AuctionUpdate The Thrill of the Hunt □: Another auction record! Joachim Anthonisz. Wtewael’s exquisite little copper panel, reviving the most dramatic moment in the myth of Diana and Actaeon, hits a bullseye at £4,634,000. #SothebysOldMasters pic.twitter.com/EJULAAQz8r
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) July 3, 2019
2
1602-1612 A Banquet of the Gods
2019 SOLD for $ 6M by Sotheby's
A Banquet of the Gods, oil on copper 16 x 20 cm painted by Wtewael, was sold for 6M by Sotheby's on January 30, 2019, lot 53. On this very small format Wtewael has staged about fifty characters in gradual registers from earth to clouds, with the high precision in details allowed by the metallic polishing.
Wtewael takes care that each god of the Olympus is identifiable by an attribute, even within the crowd of a banquet. With characters ranging from the lustful Venus to the chaste Diana, he is definitely more of an entertainer than a moralist.
In the foreground Mars and Venus occupy the place of honor. The groups interact subtly : Cupid's arrow and Minerva's spear are directed outside their own groups. Some of these characters complacently offer their nudity to their partner. Bright blue spots of clothing bring an interesting chromatic balance in the forefront. Vulcan was not invited.
This work is similar to several opus on the theme of the Wedding of Peleus and Thetis. By the clarity of the composition, it is later than the version of 1602. It precedes a better version painted in 1612.
The Banquet of the Gods is directly inspired from an engraving by Goltzius based on a drawing by Spranger.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's : a detailed view of this painting, including the straight path of Cupid's arrow up to a naked female breast !
Wtewael takes care that each god of the Olympus is identifiable by an attribute, even within the crowd of a banquet. With characters ranging from the lustful Venus to the chaste Diana, he is definitely more of an entertainer than a moralist.
In the foreground Mars and Venus occupy the place of honor. The groups interact subtly : Cupid's arrow and Minerva's spear are directed outside their own groups. Some of these characters complacently offer their nudity to their partner. Bright blue spots of clothing bring an interesting chromatic balance in the forefront. Vulcan was not invited.
This work is similar to several opus on the theme of the Wedding of Peleus and Thetis. By the clarity of the composition, it is later than the version of 1602. It precedes a better version painted in 1612.
The Banquet of the Gods is directly inspired from an engraving by Goltzius based on a drawing by Spranger.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's : a detailed view of this painting, including the straight path of Cupid's arrow up to a naked female breast !
3
1610 Mars and Venus surprised by Vulcan
2012 SOLD for £ 4.6M by Christie's
Mythological figures may have fun, as narrated by Ovid. The Olympian gods are laughing aloud when the cuckolded Vulcan reveals to them his wife Venus in adultery on the couch with Mars.
Mars and Venus surprised by Vulcan, oil on copper 18 x 14 cm painted by Wtewael and dated 1610, was sold for £ 4.6M from a lower estimate of £ 2M by Christie's on July 3, 2012, lot 8, after more than 100 years out of view in a family. The side by side position of the lovers is copying an engraving by Goltzius.
Mars and Venus surprised by Vulcan, oil on copper 18 x 14 cm painted by Wtewael and dated 1610, was sold for £ 4.6M from a lower estimate of £ 2M by Christie's on July 3, 2012, lot 8, after more than 100 years out of view in a family. The side by side position of the lovers is copying an engraving by Goltzius.
4
1611 Adam and Eve
2011 SOLD for $ 6.2M by Sotheby's
Adam and Eve, oil on copper 38.5 x 29 cm painted by Wtewael, was sold for $ 6.2M from a lower estimate of $ 800K by Sotheby's on January 27, 2011, lot 177. This just resurfacing image had not been cleaned of its old dirt and varnish before the sale. There was no visible damage to the copper plate.
Its main theme is the classical Temptation with the primordial man and woman in full nudity. Better inspired by mythological lust than by the Biblical interpretation, he adds an apple shared by the merry couple while the usual fruit is brought to Eve by the Serpent. An already sensuous Adam is resting his hand on Eve's hip.
Mingling it with another episode of the Genesis, Wtewael added many peaceful animals in front of and beside Adam and Eve.
A tentative date is 1611 by comparison of the figure with a Perseus and Andromeda. The terminus ante quem would be 1612 when the artist gave up copper for larger formats on canvas or wood.
Its main theme is the classical Temptation with the primordial man and woman in full nudity. Better inspired by mythological lust than by the Biblical interpretation, he adds an apple shared by the merry couple while the usual fruit is brought to Eve by the Serpent. An already sensuous Adam is resting his hand on Eve's hip.
Mingling it with another episode of the Genesis, Wtewael added many peaceful animals in front of and beside Adam and Eve.
A tentative date is 1611 by comparison of the figure with a Perseus and Andromeda. The terminus ante quem would be 1612 when the artist gave up copper for larger formats on canvas or wood.
1610 Wooded Landscape by Jan Brueghel
2018 SOLD for £ 3.6M by Christie's
Jan Brueghel becomes in 1606 official painter at the court of the governors of the Netherlands, Albrecht and Isabella von Habsburg. He now divides his time between Brussels and Antwerp. In 1609 the Twelve Years' Truce temporarily puts an end to the open conflicts although religious tensions remain. Jan then offers his clients serene paintings in line with the restart of rural prosperity.
He thus continues the tradition of the Weltlandschaft by which his predecessors such as Patinir and Met de Bles had composed imaginary landscapes which served as models for the backgrounds of the narrative scenes. All the elements are carefully structured : the busy road, the wide river, the vast countryside where villages and chapels nestle, and the mountain on the horizon.
He is one of the best artists of his time, with a palette of vivid and varied colors. On the road the animation responds to a catalog of motifs including travelers, horses, cattle, dogs and wagons. Compared to the classic Weltlandschaft, he takes a lower viewpoint that highlights the picturesque scene in the foreground.
Many of these views are painted on small copper plates with a bright impasto. One of the largest, 53 x 72 cm, signed Brueghel and dated 1610, was sold for £ 3.6M by Christie's on December 6, 2018, lot 23. A Summer landscape with tilt carts, oil on copper 25 x 37.5 cm painted in 1612 by Jan Brueghel, was sold for $ 2M by Christie's on January 25, 2023, lot 123.
The nickname Fluwelen Brueghel often used to designate Jan the elder is consistent with the exquisite atmosphere and light of that series of paintings.
He thus continues the tradition of the Weltlandschaft by which his predecessors such as Patinir and Met de Bles had composed imaginary landscapes which served as models for the backgrounds of the narrative scenes. All the elements are carefully structured : the busy road, the wide river, the vast countryside where villages and chapels nestle, and the mountain on the horizon.
He is one of the best artists of his time, with a palette of vivid and varied colors. On the road the animation responds to a catalog of motifs including travelers, horses, cattle, dogs and wagons. Compared to the classic Weltlandschaft, he takes a lower viewpoint that highlights the picturesque scene in the foreground.
Many of these views are painted on small copper plates with a bright impasto. One of the largest, 53 x 72 cm, signed Brueghel and dated 1610, was sold for £ 3.6M by Christie's on December 6, 2018, lot 23. A Summer landscape with tilt carts, oil on copper 25 x 37.5 cm painted in 1612 by Jan Brueghel, was sold for $ 2M by Christie's on January 25, 2023, lot 123.
The nickname Fluwelen Brueghel often used to designate Jan the elder is consistent with the exquisite atmosphere and light of that series of paintings.
#AuctionUpdate Regarded as one of the most significant landscapes by the artist to come to market in recent decades, 'An extensive wooded landscape' by #JanBreugheltheElder realises £3,608,750 this evening. #Christies #OldMasters pic.twitter.com/RiVwHRx6QC
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) December 6, 2018
1612 Roelandt Savery at the Court of Rudolf II
2012 SOLD 5.4 MCHF including premium
Roelandt Savery is a Dutch painter born in Kortrijk in Flanders, but it is in Prague with Rudolf II that he develops an art which was new for the time. He activates the animals of the exotic menagerie of the emperor in the themes of the gardens of Paradise, of Noah's Ark and of the charms of Orpheus.
He is also one of the first artists to show still lifes of flowers. According to a design that will be copied many times, he arranges them as a tight bouquet in a vase located in a niche. Small reptiles and insects animate the scene.
Such a bouquet in a small oil on copper, 13.5 x 17 cm, dated 1612, is estimated CHF 2.8 million, for sale by Koller in Zurich on March 30. Here is the link to the catalogue.
This painting had been sold £ 1.76 million including premium by Sotheby's on 12 July 2001.
POST SALE COMMENT
Excellent price for this interesting painting despite its small size: CHF 4.7 million before fees, 5.4 million including premium.
This auction house often gets great results on old painting. In September 2008, a bouquet painted in 1608 by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder had been sold for CHF 5.8 million including premium.
He is also one of the first artists to show still lifes of flowers. According to a design that will be copied many times, he arranges them as a tight bouquet in a vase located in a niche. Small reptiles and insects animate the scene.
Such a bouquet in a small oil on copper, 13.5 x 17 cm, dated 1612, is estimated CHF 2.8 million, for sale by Koller in Zurich on March 30. Here is the link to the catalogue.
This painting had been sold £ 1.76 million including premium by Sotheby's on 12 July 2001.
POST SALE COMMENT
Excellent price for this interesting painting despite its small size: CHF 4.7 million before fees, 5.4 million including premium.
This auction house often gets great results on old painting. In September 2008, a bouquet painted in 1608 by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder had been sold for CHF 5.8 million including premium.
1613 Garden of Eden by Jan Brueghel
2014 SOLD for £ 6.8M by Sotheby's
Jan Brueghel's long stay in Italy, from 1590 to 1596, is fruitful. The second son of Pieter the elder finds there the themes and techniques that would ensure his own success. From this early period, he uses the technique of oil on copper, which allows in small formats the greatest sharpness in the strokes.
One of his sponsors is the young cardinal Federico Borromeo. He is inspired by Filippo Neri, the apostle of the Counter-Reformation who advocates a joyful Christianity and sees the glory of God in the diversity of nature. Jan Brueghel's scenes of Paradise combine a wide variety of animals in an idyllic landscape with direct reference to Genesis.
Such a mystical perception of nature also inspires botanists and zoologists, who publish catalogs of species. Jan's invention around 1608 of painting bouquets with a wide variety of flowers was an epistolary suggestion from his friend the cardinal.
From 1612 to 1615, Jan takes up the theme of Paradise, with a more pleasant distribution of the elements. He saw the exotic animals of the Archduke's menagerie and compared his observations with the very innovative Rubens, with whom he was collaborating occasionally since 1598.
On July 9, 2014, Sotheby's sold at lot 19 for £ 6.8M from a lower estimate of £ 2M a Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man, oil on copper 24 x 37 cm painted in 1613.
The left part is animated in the foreground by the royal animals, a pair of lions and a magnificent gray horse. Domestic and exotic quadrupeds and birds are distributed throughout the rest of the image. The Fall of Man, which justifies the Biblical context, is the picking of the apple. Adam and Eve are two tiny figures in the distance, painted in great fineness at a strong point of the image between the head of the horse and the beak of an ostrich.
One of his sponsors is the young cardinal Federico Borromeo. He is inspired by Filippo Neri, the apostle of the Counter-Reformation who advocates a joyful Christianity and sees the glory of God in the diversity of nature. Jan Brueghel's scenes of Paradise combine a wide variety of animals in an idyllic landscape with direct reference to Genesis.
Such a mystical perception of nature also inspires botanists and zoologists, who publish catalogs of species. Jan's invention around 1608 of painting bouquets with a wide variety of flowers was an epistolary suggestion from his friend the cardinal.
From 1612 to 1615, Jan takes up the theme of Paradise, with a more pleasant distribution of the elements. He saw the exotic animals of the Archduke's menagerie and compared his observations with the very innovative Rubens, with whom he was collaborating occasionally since 1598.
On July 9, 2014, Sotheby's sold at lot 19 for £ 6.8M from a lower estimate of £ 2M a Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man, oil on copper 24 x 37 cm painted in 1613.
The left part is animated in the foreground by the royal animals, a pair of lions and a magnificent gray horse. Domestic and exotic quadrupeds and birds are distributed throughout the rest of the image. The Fall of Man, which justifies the Biblical context, is the picking of the apple. Adam and Eve are two tiny figures in the distance, painted in great fineness at a strong point of the image between the head of the horse and the beak of an ostrich.
1630 Ampzing by Hals
2007 SOLD for £ 4.7M by Sotheby's
Frans Hals begins his career in Haarlem at a time of religious tensions. He is a friend of the purist doctrinaire Samuel Ampzing.
His portraits of wealthy customers are highly realistic through strong brushstrokes that increase the vitality.
Several small-scale bust-length portraits on panel or copper of Haarlem figures are associated with subsequent engravings, all in reverse.
The portrait of Ampzing is one of only three surviving works on copper by Hals. It is dated by the artist and inscribed in his usual practice with the age of the sitter, 40. The year partly missing is re-established as 1630.
He is displayed holding a small book with his forefinger inserted into it as if marking a particular page. The book may be his best seller edited in 1628 for promoting a simple and austere way of life for the Protestants in Haarlem. Ampzing attested in 1628 that Hals painted people from life.
This oil on copper 16.4 x 12.4 cm was sold for £ 4.7M by Sotheby's on December 5, 2007, lot 29. The image is shared by Wikimedia. It is currently owned by and on view at the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem.
Its engraving was edited in reverse by Jan van de Velde II in 1632, the year of Ampzing's death.
His portraits of wealthy customers are highly realistic through strong brushstrokes that increase the vitality.
Several small-scale bust-length portraits on panel or copper of Haarlem figures are associated with subsequent engravings, all in reverse.
The portrait of Ampzing is one of only three surviving works on copper by Hals. It is dated by the artist and inscribed in his usual practice with the age of the sitter, 40. The year partly missing is re-established as 1630.
He is displayed holding a small book with his forefinger inserted into it as if marking a particular page. The book may be his best seller edited in 1628 for promoting a simple and austere way of life for the Protestants in Haarlem. Ampzing attested in 1628 that Hals painted people from life.
This oil on copper 16.4 x 12.4 cm was sold for £ 4.7M by Sotheby's on December 5, 2007, lot 29. The image is shared by Wikimedia. It is currently owned by and on view at the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem.
Its engraving was edited in reverse by Jan van de Velde II in 1632, the year of Ampzing's death.
1648 Ham Lunch by Teniers
2019 SOLD for £ 4.7M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
Pieter Bruegel the elder had made rural scenes popular. Adriaen Brouwer, member of the Antwerp guild in 1631, developed the tavern scenes with more earthiness.
Born into a family of artists, David Teniers the younger was influenced by Brouwer. He got closer to Jan Brueghel the elder whose daughter he married in 1637. Throughout his career, Teniers was a very prolific artist in various themes of the genre scene animated by many characters.
Jan Brueghel was one of the best painters in oil on copper, which combines the sharpness of the stroke and the beauty of the colors. His son-in-law also adopts this practice by using increasingly large formats which allow a multitude of details to be easily introduced, often with humor.
The Ham Lunch, oil on copper 63 x 85 cm painted by Teniers in 1648, was sold for £ 4.7M including premium by Christie's on July 4, 2019 from a lower estimate of £ 800K, lot 15. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Teniers liked the compositions in several stages. The Ham Lunch displays two rooms in an inn. In the foreground, the old timers are seated to eat a ham. Two men watch while smoking their pipe. In the back room, young people dance in tight groups to the sound of the bagpipes.
The animation and the diversity of attitudes take precedence over the caricatured features of the portraits. For example, one of the young dancers allows herself to be kissed by her partner while another, more shy, does not trust a merry fellow. The artist has nailed his self-portrait above the fireplace.
A 70 x 88 cm oil on copper painted in 1651, showing in Rubens' garden an elegant company which includes the artist and his wife, was sold for £ 1.57M including premium by Sotheby's on December 6, 2017 from a lower estimate of £ 800K. lot 43.
Born into a family of artists, David Teniers the younger was influenced by Brouwer. He got closer to Jan Brueghel the elder whose daughter he married in 1637. Throughout his career, Teniers was a very prolific artist in various themes of the genre scene animated by many characters.
Jan Brueghel was one of the best painters in oil on copper, which combines the sharpness of the stroke and the beauty of the colors. His son-in-law also adopts this practice by using increasingly large formats which allow a multitude of details to be easily introduced, often with humor.
The Ham Lunch, oil on copper 63 x 85 cm painted by Teniers in 1648, was sold for £ 4.7M including premium by Christie's on July 4, 2019 from a lower estimate of £ 800K, lot 15. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Teniers liked the compositions in several stages. The Ham Lunch displays two rooms in an inn. In the foreground, the old timers are seated to eat a ham. Two men watch while smoking their pipe. In the back room, young people dance in tight groups to the sound of the bagpipes.
The animation and the diversity of attitudes take precedence over the caricatured features of the portraits. For example, one of the young dancers allows herself to be kissed by her partner while another, more shy, does not trust a merry fellow. The artist has nailed his self-portrait above the fireplace.
A 70 x 88 cm oil on copper painted in 1651, showing in Rubens' garden an elegant company which includes the artist and his wife, was sold for £ 1.57M including premium by Sotheby's on December 6, 2017 from a lower estimate of £ 800K. lot 43.
