Plus 17C
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Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
1600 Summer by Pieter II Brueghel
2014 SOLD for $ 5.2M by Sotheby's
Working in Antwerp and afterwards in Brussels, Pieter Bruegel lived in troubled times. His specialty of painting proverbs and morals might at any time offend the Catholic Spain which was then the colonial power, or the Dutch Protestants beginning to engage in their very long war of independence.
Pieter Bruegel chose the theme of peasant life. Their occupations are indeed symbols more or less easy to decode of the struggle between vices and virtues.
The difficulty in deciphering his message, which is explained by the political context, allows the modern viewer to focus his admiration on the anecdote. Bruegel's characters enchant us by their picturesque features and by the exceptional reference to the lifestyle of another time.
Pieter Bruegel died untimely in 1569. His art, however, had a sequel. His mother-in-law Mayken Verhulst transmitted his images to Pieter II and Jan, four and one years old at the father's death.
The large picture of Summer - Harvesters, 119 x 162 cm, painted by Pieter Bruegel in 1565, comes by this way into the suite of modellos used by Pieter Brueghel II (recovering the h from the original spelling of his father's name).
Pieter II copies the characters from the scene made by his father, with a translucid method of transfer. His peasants are placed in a similar landscape, but any moralizing intention has disappeared. He erased the idle fellow and the players to retain one peasant at work with his scythe and the quiet group who takes his snack. The tree no longer separates good and evil.
On January 30, 2014, Sotheby's sold for $ 5.2M from a lower estimate of $ 2.5M one of these scenes of harvest painted by Pieter II, lot 22. This oil on panel 60 x 80 cm is dated 1600, which is quite early in the career of the artist. Tirelessly repeating the same themes, Pieter II has not often dated his paintings in his later career.
Pieter Bruegel chose the theme of peasant life. Their occupations are indeed symbols more or less easy to decode of the struggle between vices and virtues.
The difficulty in deciphering his message, which is explained by the political context, allows the modern viewer to focus his admiration on the anecdote. Bruegel's characters enchant us by their picturesque features and by the exceptional reference to the lifestyle of another time.
Pieter Bruegel died untimely in 1569. His art, however, had a sequel. His mother-in-law Mayken Verhulst transmitted his images to Pieter II and Jan, four and one years old at the father's death.
The large picture of Summer - Harvesters, 119 x 162 cm, painted by Pieter Bruegel in 1565, comes by this way into the suite of modellos used by Pieter Brueghel II (recovering the h from the original spelling of his father's name).
Pieter II copies the characters from the scene made by his father, with a translucid method of transfer. His peasants are placed in a similar landscape, but any moralizing intention has disappeared. He erased the idle fellow and the players to retain one peasant at work with his scythe and the quiet group who takes his snack. The tree no longer separates good and evil.
On January 30, 2014, Sotheby's sold for $ 5.2M from a lower estimate of $ 2.5M one of these scenes of harvest painted by Pieter II, lot 22. This oil on panel 60 x 80 cm is dated 1600, which is quite early in the career of the artist. Tirelessly repeating the same themes, Pieter II has not often dated his paintings in his later career.
Combat between Carnival and Lent by Pieter Brueghel
2012 SOLD for £ 4.5M by Sotheby's
Pieter Bruegel the elder is one the most popular ancient masters for the public of today. We love his celebrations, his many characters in very diverse attitudes who are busy in a medieval atmosphere. He has recorded for us the life of another time.
His themes, allegories, proverbs, parables, however, are well positioning this artist at the time when the religious crisis shook Europe, when Cranach and Titian, in their own way, were looking for the meaning of good and evil.
The Battle between Carnival and Lent, in 1559, is one of the most complex compositions of Bruegel. On the pretext of a festival on the village square, it shows people, their occupations, their games, and two processions facing each other in such a way that they irreversibly inhibit any possible progress. Carnival comes out of the inn and Lent out of the church.
Fortunately, the sons of the founder of the workshop were also excellent painters. Although being copies, the five known examples of the Battle between Carnival and Lent by Pieter Brueghel the younger are masterpieces.
Only one of these five paintings, it seems, has been dated using dendrochronology. This version of 1603, 118 x 166 cm, has been previously discussed in this group. In neglected condition, it was sold for £ 2M by Christie's on December 7, 2010.
On similar size and in very good condition, the only canvas of the group was sold by Christie's for £ 3.25M on 7 December 2006, and £ 6.9M on December 6, 2011.
Also in similar dimensions, the best preserved of the four panels was sold for £ 4.5M by Sotheby's on July 4, 2012, lot 11.
His themes, allegories, proverbs, parables, however, are well positioning this artist at the time when the religious crisis shook Europe, when Cranach and Titian, in their own way, were looking for the meaning of good and evil.
The Battle between Carnival and Lent, in 1559, is one of the most complex compositions of Bruegel. On the pretext of a festival on the village square, it shows people, their occupations, their games, and two processions facing each other in such a way that they irreversibly inhibit any possible progress. Carnival comes out of the inn and Lent out of the church.
Fortunately, the sons of the founder of the workshop were also excellent painters. Although being copies, the five known examples of the Battle between Carnival and Lent by Pieter Brueghel the younger are masterpieces.
Only one of these five paintings, it seems, has been dated using dendrochronology. This version of 1603, 118 x 166 cm, has been previously discussed in this group. In neglected condition, it was sold for £ 2M by Christie's on December 7, 2010.
On similar size and in very good condition, the only canvas of the group was sold by Christie's for £ 3.25M on 7 December 2006, and £ 6.9M on December 6, 2011.
Also in similar dimensions, the best preserved of the four panels was sold for £ 4.5M by Sotheby's on July 4, 2012, lot 11.
1605-1610 Massacre of the Innocents by Pieter Brueghel
2009 SOLD for £ 4.6M by Sotheby's
Painted ca 1565 by Pieter Bruegel, the Massacre of the Innocents is a response to the outbreak of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish rule. The artist staged the event in a Dutch village under a heavy snow that provides a high contrast with the ongoing drama.
Conceived in smaller size in parallel with the Massacre, the Bird Trap allegory is its moralizing counterpart in the same village and same snow, with peaceful ice skaters replacing the Spanish soldiers and German mercenaries. The Bird Trap title cannot be understood without referring to the Massacre : Take care, a quiet scenery may hide a trap to the innocents.
Ertz recognized 11 autograph Massacres and 45 Traps by Bruegel's son Pieter Brueghel the younger. A Massacre dated 1593 is one of his earliest works.
A Massacre of the Innocents, oil on oak 122 x 170 cm by Pieter the younger, was sold for £ 4.6M from a lower estimate of £ 2.5M by Sotheby's on July 8, 2009, lot 13. It is dated around 1605-1610 in compliance with its dendrochronology. It is very close to the original composition by his father.
Five Bird Traps were dated by the artist between 1601 and 1626. The last of them, 40 x 57 cm, was sold for £ 3.9M by Sotheby's on July 9, 2014.
Conceived in smaller size in parallel with the Massacre, the Bird Trap allegory is its moralizing counterpart in the same village and same snow, with peaceful ice skaters replacing the Spanish soldiers and German mercenaries. The Bird Trap title cannot be understood without referring to the Massacre : Take care, a quiet scenery may hide a trap to the innocents.
Ertz recognized 11 autograph Massacres and 45 Traps by Bruegel's son Pieter Brueghel the younger. A Massacre dated 1593 is one of his earliest works.
A Massacre of the Innocents, oil on oak 122 x 170 cm by Pieter the younger, was sold for £ 4.6M from a lower estimate of £ 2.5M by Sotheby's on July 8, 2009, lot 13. It is dated around 1605-1610 in compliance with its dendrochronology. It is very close to the original composition by his father.
Five Bird Traps were dated by the artist between 1601 and 1626. The last of them, 40 x 57 cm, was sold for £ 3.9M by Sotheby's on July 9, 2014.
1612 Jupiter and Antiope by Goltzius
2010 SOLD for $ 6.8M by Sotheby's
The early seventeenth century is marked by the influence of Italians on Flemish and Dutch painting. Just coming back from Italy, the master of Antwerp, Rubens, painted around 1609-1611 a Massacre of the Innocents sold for £ 49.5M by Sotheby's in 2002.
Go further to the North. Haarlem is not yet knowing Frans Hals. Hendrick Goltzius, also influenced by Italy, led his artistic career with a degree of originality. Recognized as one of the best printmakers of his time, he decided in 1600, aged 42, to practice the great art of oil painting.
Like Rubens, Goltzius uses the ancient and mythological themes as an excuse to show nudes. The flesh shown by Goltzius is abundant and always erotic. On January 28, 2010, Sotheby's sold for $ 6.8M Jupiter and Antiope of 1612, 122 x 178 cm. The young woman is sleeping, naked in the light, thus being offered to a satyr. It is illustrated in the press release shared by AuctionPublicity.
This piece has been returned by the Dutch government to the heirs of the Jewish family which had been forced to sell it to Göring.
Go further to the North. Haarlem is not yet knowing Frans Hals. Hendrick Goltzius, also influenced by Italy, led his artistic career with a degree of originality. Recognized as one of the best printmakers of his time, he decided in 1600, aged 42, to practice the great art of oil painting.
Like Rubens, Goltzius uses the ancient and mythological themes as an excuse to show nudes. The flesh shown by Goltzius is abundant and always erotic. On January 28, 2010, Sotheby's sold for $ 6.8M Jupiter and Antiope of 1612, 122 x 178 cm. The young woman is sleeping, naked in the light, thus being offered to a satyr. It is illustrated in the press release shared by AuctionPublicity.
This piece has been returned by the Dutch government to the heirs of the Jewish family which had been forced to sell it to Göring.
1615 Crowning with Thorns by Valentin de Boulogne
2016 SOLD for $ 5.2M by Sotheby's
Caravaggio considered the dramatic moment in his art, along with innovations in the composition and in the contrasting use of light. After he was forced to leave Rome in 1606, Bartolomeo Manfredi passed on his artistic vision to younger artists from all countries who sought fortune in Rome.
Manfredi takes his friends to taverns and drinking bouts and is probably the first to paint those scenes of bad life that characterize the first post-Caravaggesque generation. All of them are at that time far away from the official commissions they had yet come for, and reliable information is missing in their biographies. It is not exactly known when Valentin de Boulogne arrived in Rome but it was too late for him to meet Caravaggio.
The theme of the decisive moment when action is just rocking also applies to the great Christian dramas. Valentin seems to develop in parallel from his beginnings the themes of Christianity and of tavern life. He is professionally right since his reputation will grow at the end of his career through official Counter-Reformation orders. He died at 41 in 1632, following a drinking bout as reported by the gossips of that time.
On January 27, 2016, Sotheby's sold for $ 5.2M from a lower estimate of $ 1.5M a Crowning with Thorns 146 x 107 cm painted by Valentin circa 1615, lot 20. It was sold for $ 4.9M by the same auction house on January, 26, 2023, lot 6.
The action is shown at the very moment when the torturer leans to push the crown onto the head of Christ. The young soldier makes his famous invectives. With his gaze upwards to heaven, Christ ignores him despite their physical closeness. A bright light illuminates Christ's body in contrast with the surrounding shadow.
The artist revisited several times that moment in his later career, but with the head turned down in a lesser pathos.
Manfredi takes his friends to taverns and drinking bouts and is probably the first to paint those scenes of bad life that characterize the first post-Caravaggesque generation. All of them are at that time far away from the official commissions they had yet come for, and reliable information is missing in their biographies. It is not exactly known when Valentin de Boulogne arrived in Rome but it was too late for him to meet Caravaggio.
The theme of the decisive moment when action is just rocking also applies to the great Christian dramas. Valentin seems to develop in parallel from his beginnings the themes of Christianity and of tavern life. He is professionally right since his reputation will grow at the end of his career through official Counter-Reformation orders. He died at 41 in 1632, following a drinking bout as reported by the gossips of that time.
On January 27, 2016, Sotheby's sold for $ 5.2M from a lower estimate of $ 1.5M a Crowning with Thorns 146 x 107 cm painted by Valentin circa 1615, lot 20. It was sold for $ 4.9M by the same auction house on January, 26, 2023, lot 6.
The action is shown at the very moment when the torturer leans to push the crown onto the head of Christ. The young soldier makes his famous invectives. With his gaze upwards to heaven, Christ ignores him despite their physical closeness. A bright light illuminates Christ's body in contrast with the surrounding shadow.
The artist revisited several times that moment in his later career, but with the head turned down in a lesser pathos.
1618-1620 Two Studies of a Head by van Dyck
2010 SOLD for $ 7.3M by Sotheby's
Born in Antwerp, Antoon van Dyck is a precocious artist. Barely ten years old, he studies painting with van Balen. As early as 1615 he opens a workshop with another teenager, Jan, the son of Jan Brueghel the Elder. In 1618 he is admitted as an independent artist to the guild of Saint-Luke.
During that decade, art in Antwerp is dominated by the very prosperous workshop of Rubens, who trains pupils and employs many assistants. Van Dyck learns there the new style, baroque art. Around 1618 Rubens considers that he is his best collaborator.
From 1618 to 1620 van Dyck is prolific. Alongside baroque religious scenes, he prepares his future by making expressive portraits.
On January 28, 2010, Sotheby's sold as lot 176 for $ 7.3M a double head, oil on canvas 45 x 67 cm. This study shows in two different angles the bust of a man with a very dense black beard, with naked torso. The double portrait was certainly painted simultaneously. The one on the left expresses introspection and the one on the right violence. These studies were used by the artist in two biblical scenes and two secular scenes.
The terminus post quem of this painting could be 1618 because of its great pictorial quality. The terminus ante quem is the artist's short stay in 1620 in London, where he observes Titian's exquisite use of colors.
A younger double head painted on panel by Rubens ca 1615-1617 in a nearly identical size was sold for £ 3.8M by Christie's on December 6, 2007, lot 7.
During that decade, art in Antwerp is dominated by the very prosperous workshop of Rubens, who trains pupils and employs many assistants. Van Dyck learns there the new style, baroque art. Around 1618 Rubens considers that he is his best collaborator.
From 1618 to 1620 van Dyck is prolific. Alongside baroque religious scenes, he prepares his future by making expressive portraits.
On January 28, 2010, Sotheby's sold as lot 176 for $ 7.3M a double head, oil on canvas 45 x 67 cm. This study shows in two different angles the bust of a man with a very dense black beard, with naked torso. The double portrait was certainly painted simultaneously. The one on the left expresses introspection and the one on the right violence. These studies were used by the artist in two biblical scenes and two secular scenes.
The terminus post quem of this painting could be 1618 because of its great pictorial quality. The terminus ante quem is the artist's short stay in 1620 in London, where he observes Titian's exquisite use of colors.
A younger double head painted on panel by Rubens ca 1615-1617 in a nearly identical size was sold for £ 3.8M by Christie's on December 6, 2007, lot 7.
early 1620s Saint André by Georges de la Tour
2021 SOLD for £ 4.3M by Christie's
A Lorrain painter, Georges de La Tour moved in 1619 to Lunéville where he will stay for most of his career. Like Murillo in the next generation, the models for his portraits of saints are people around him. His training is not known but an influence from the nocturnal scenes by the Utrecht Caravaggists is highly probable. He uses the chiaroscuro in peaceful compositions which are in opposition to van Honthorst's scenes of the Roman nights.
His work was poorly documented in period. Nevertheless a series of 13 portraits on the theme of Christ and the Apostles looks outstanding in his early career. La Tour's Apostles are ordinary mid aged peasants with heavy beards, forehead wrinkles, crooked fingers and dirty nails in the costumes and occupations of the artist's time. These figures are painted against a neutral non figurative background.
The set was made in the early 1620s, probably for a local church or monastery, and was donated in1694 by a canon to the Albi cathedral where it remained until the Révolution. Six of them are currently located. These pictures express spirituality and humanity in full opposition to the glorious saints usually highlighted in the Counter-Reformation.
The long lost portrait of Saint Andrew, oil on canvas 62 x 50 cm, surfaced near Albi in 1991. It was sold for £ 4.3M on July 8, 2021 by Christie's, lot 42. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The saint in deep meditation with an open book is identified by the cross of his crucifixion.
From the same series and in the same size, Saint James the Greater was sold for $ 3.7M by Sotheby's on January 26, 2023, lot 9. The scallop shells which are an attribute of this saint are hooked in his large peasant cap. He is kindly looking away.
His work was poorly documented in period. Nevertheless a series of 13 portraits on the theme of Christ and the Apostles looks outstanding in his early career. La Tour's Apostles are ordinary mid aged peasants with heavy beards, forehead wrinkles, crooked fingers and dirty nails in the costumes and occupations of the artist's time. These figures are painted against a neutral non figurative background.
The set was made in the early 1620s, probably for a local church or monastery, and was donated in1694 by a canon to the Albi cathedral where it remained until the Révolution. Six of them are currently located. These pictures express spirituality and humanity in full opposition to the glorious saints usually highlighted in the Counter-Reformation.
The long lost portrait of Saint Andrew, oil on canvas 62 x 50 cm, surfaced near Albi in 1991. It was sold for £ 4.3M on July 8, 2021 by Christie's, lot 42. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The saint in deep meditation with an open book is identified by the cross of his crucifixion.
From the same series and in the same size, Saint James the Greater was sold for $ 3.7M by Sotheby's on January 26, 2023, lot 9. The scallop shells which are an attribute of this saint are hooked in his large peasant cap. He is kindly looking away.
1621 Maddalena Penitente by Orazio Gentileschi
2023 SOLD for $ 4.9M by Sotheby's
The series of three paintings executed by Orazio Gentileschi from the 1621 commission for the Palazzo Sauli in Genova included a Maddalena penitente.
The outstretched position of the bare breasted woman resting on her left elbow heightened on a plinth reminds the Danaë from the same provenance, sold for $ 30.5M by Sotheby's in 2016. They were not conceived as pendants : the Maddalena, oil on canvas 150 x 187 cm, is smaller.
The penitent is laying in the mountain cave and gazing to heaven inspired. The left elbow lays on an opened holy book with a skull on the ground below.
This painting inspired from Correggio and Titian was sold for $ 4.9M by Sotheby's on January 26, 2023, lot 7. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The outstretched position of the bare breasted woman resting on her left elbow heightened on a plinth reminds the Danaë from the same provenance, sold for $ 30.5M by Sotheby's in 2016. They were not conceived as pendants : the Maddalena, oil on canvas 150 x 187 cm, is smaller.
The penitent is laying in the mountain cave and gazing to heaven inspired. The left elbow lays on an opened holy book with a skull on the ground below.
This painting inspired from Correggio and Titian was sold for $ 4.9M by Sotheby's on January 26, 2023, lot 7. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
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1633-1635 Virtue and Vice by Francken
2010 SOLD for € 7M by Dorotheum
Frans Francken the younger was a painter of Antwerp and a contemporary of Rubens. This master is known for much animated scenes from mythology and the Old Testament, and some curious interpretations of collectors' showrooms.
On April 21, 2010, Dorotheum sold for € 7M an outstanding oil on panel 142 x 211 cm by Francken on the moralizing theme of human choice between vices and virtues, lot 5. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The composition is in two superimposed registers, according to the practice which had been so common in medieval iconography, long before this painting dated 1633 or 1635.
Upstairs, in an architectural environment, a pilgrim is surrounded by the virtues, on the left of the image, and vices and sins, on the right. Above him, a cloud is housing the Paradise. The lower register shows Hell with Satan and his pleasures.
On April 21, 2010, Dorotheum sold for € 7M an outstanding oil on panel 142 x 211 cm by Francken on the moralizing theme of human choice between vices and virtues, lot 5. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The composition is in two superimposed registers, according to the practice which had been so common in medieval iconography, long before this painting dated 1633 or 1635.
Upstairs, in an architectural environment, a pilgrim is surrounded by the virtues, on the left of the image, and vices and sins, on the right. Above him, a cloud is housing the Paradise. The lower register shows Hell with Satan and his pleasures.
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early 1640s Maritime Pen Painting by Van de Velde
2015 SOLD for $ 5.4M by Sotheby's
In the early 1640s, Willem van de Velde is working in the Dutch harbors and on shipboard. He draws sketches that will serve him for his portraits of ships and later for his best known specialty: the paintings of naval battles. He is commonly referred as van de Velde the Elder to avoid confusing him with his son.
At that time, van de Velde developed a new technique, the penschilderij. He considered after Goltzius that a work of art can reuse on panel or canvas the techniques of drawing for providing the same sharpness of details on a larger size.
The preparation was long and difficult because the white coating used in background had to be perfectly dry to support the whole quality of a pen drawing. No other artist reused the penschilderej.
On January 29, 2015, Sotheby's sold for $ 5.4M from a lower estimate of $ 2M the view of an unidentified harbor with boats and a lively shore, pen painting in ink and oil on panel 48 x 65 cm, lot 32.
The achievement combining the qualities of a painting and those of a drawing is excellent. The artist has managed to execute the backgrounds in a softer line, improving the perception of distance and atmosphere under the beautiful cloudy sky.
At that time, van de Velde developed a new technique, the penschilderij. He considered after Goltzius that a work of art can reuse on panel or canvas the techniques of drawing for providing the same sharpness of details on a larger size.
The preparation was long and difficult because the white coating used in background had to be perfectly dry to support the whole quality of a pen drawing. No other artist reused the penschilderej.
On January 29, 2015, Sotheby's sold for $ 5.4M from a lower estimate of $ 2M the view of an unidentified harbor with boats and a lively shore, pen painting in ink and oil on panel 48 x 65 cm, lot 32.
The achievement combining the qualities of a painting and those of a drawing is excellent. The artist has managed to execute the backgrounds in a softer line, improving the perception of distance and atmosphere under the beautiful cloudy sky.
#AuctionUpdate: A bidding war drives Willem van de Velde's depiction of a Dutch Harbor to $5.4M, an #ArtistRecord pic.twitter.com/q6wkbNrwzo
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) January 29, 2015
