European Art & Old Masters: 500 Years

eur ope an art & old mas ter s:

500 years

february 27, 2019

european art & old masters:

500 years

Auction Sale 1624 Wednesday, February 27 at 12pm 1808 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia PA 19103 Online catalogue available at freemansauction.com Cover Image: Lot 5 (detail), Background: Lot 30 (detail)

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500(detail) Years 3Lot 14

Lot 4 5 (detail)

european art & old masters: 500 years

department David Weiss Senior Vice President | Department Head dweiss@freemansauction.com 267.414.1214 Alasdair Nichol Chairman | Division Head anichol@freemansauction.com 267.414.1211 RaphaĂŤl Chatroux Associate Specialist rchatroux@freemansauction.com 267.414.1253

exhibitions Friday, February 22

10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Saturday, February 23

12:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Sunday, February 24

12:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Monday, February 25

10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Tuesday, February 26

10:00 am - 5:00 pm

By appointment only on the morning of the sale

Online catalogue available at freemansauction.com

client services Mary Maguire Director | Client Services mmaguire@freemansauction.com 267.414.1236 Joslyn Moore Bidding Registration jmoore@freemansauction.com 267.414.1207 Melissa Arundel Post-Sale Administrator marundel@freemansauction.com 267.414.1226

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7 (detail) Years 7 Lot500

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CORNELIS SAFTLEVEN (Dutch 1607-1681)

“Death, The Reaper” Signed and dated ‘C. Saftleven. fc. 1649.’ bottom center left, oil on cradled panel 27 1/8 x 39 in. (68.9 x 99.1cm) provenance: The Hawkins Collection, New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Berghoffer Collection, Chicago, Illinois.

Collection of Judge John Barton Payne, Virginia A gift from the above, 1919.

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia. literature: Wolfgang Schulz, Cornelis Saftleven 1607-1681: Leben und Werke, Mit Einem Kritischen Katalog der Gemälde und Zeichnungen, De Gruyter, Berlin and New York, 1978, no.

518, pp. 8, 28, and 188 (illustrated).

Peter C. Sutton, A Guide to Dutch Art in America, The Netherlands-American Amity Trust, Washington D.C; Eedmans, Grand Rapids, 1986. $8,000-12,000

(detail) 8

C

ornelis Saftleven was born into an important family of Dutch artists in Gorinchem in 1607. After training in Rotterdam, possibly with his father Herman Saftleven (d. circa 1627), Cornelis traveled to Antwerp around 1632, where he became familiar with the work of genre scene painters Adriaen Brouwer (c. 1605-1638) and David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690). While in Antwerp, Saftleven gained considerable fame and collaborated with Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) on no less than four projects. By 1634, Cornelis was in Utrecht where he painted a portrait of the Godard van Reede family, together with his brother Herman the Younger (1609-1685). He returned to Rotterdam by 1637, where he was appointed dean of the prestigious Saint Luke’s Guild in October 1667.

Saftleven was among the artists of the Dutch Golden Age who never specialized in one particular genre, and thus his œuvre includes genre scenes, portraits, allegories and mythological themes, landscapes, and still lifes. Today, his images of Hell and his satires of Dutch society are considered to be his most important contributions to Dutch painting.

With its attention to details and its captivating theme, the present work stands out as a unique subject in Stafleven’s oeuvre. It falls within spookerijen (“spookery”), a common Dutch theme which includes a wide range of ghoulish images, such as Temptations of Saint Anthony, witchcrafts, Black Sabbaths, deaths and hells. Although Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450-1516) and Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525-1566) were pioneers in this domain, Cornelis Saftleven brought the theme to a new level, creating a modern standard that strongly impacted later artists, and enjoyed continued popularity in the 17th century Netherlands. Such images were aimed at an audience of enlightened collectors, who did not necessarily believe in demons, but collected such paintings as a reflection on mortality and detachment from earthly vanities, thus mimicking the Christian philosophy of Memento Mori.

Set in a hilly landscape near a forest entrance, this scene depicts Death disguised as a skeleton. A scythe in its hand, the threatening figure stands in front of various animals, for the most part exotic, as typified by the elephants and the camels in the background. While some are shown dead, others are still trying to escape. In the foreground a leopard leaps at a horse’s neck. To the right, a ferocious lion who just struck a cattle is devouring his prey. Near him lies a dead goat, a sign of the devil. The majority of the figures depicted here are animals. However, Saftleven also represents humans. While a scary group of bathers is shown fleeing in the distance, one can spot the remnants of human bones, including a skull, in the center of the composition, a painful reminder that no one escapes death.

Saftleven executed the present painting in 1649, a decade after his return to the city of Rotterdam. The subdued palette of brown, maroon, and grey tones is typical of his earlier compositions, and resembles the tavern scenes by Brouwer. The impact of his contemporary Jan Brueghel the Younger (1601-1678) is also evident in the careful rendering of the subject and attraction to grisly details. The work combines precise scientific observation - as shown in the impressive body of the dead bull in the center of the composition - with a sense of powerful forces, as typified by the dramatic and chaotic dispersion of the animals in the foreground.

Dutch artists of the 17th century could study exotic animals like the ones shown here at fairs, markets and menageries. But artists did not always have the opportunity to paint from real life, and sometimes had to rely on stuffed animals or the work of their contemporaries. In Safteleven’s case, Roelandt Savery (1576-1639) inspired him to produce a large production of both fanciful animal allegories and detailed studies of lions, leopards, owls, and monkeys. According to Wolfgang Schulz (b. 1943), the present painting can be related to some drawings of lions and camels Saftleven produced during the 1640s, examples of which can be seen in the collections of the Rikjsmusem in Amsterdam and the Art Institute of Chicago, respectively.

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500 Years

2

REMBRANDT VAN RIJN (Dutch 1606–1669)

“Peasant Family on the Tramp” Circa 1652. Etching on laid paper, New Hollstein’s first state of three; before the three short vertical lines added in the center of the pack; a fair impression with the plate scratches lower left still clearly visible. Also with partial watermark to mid lower left: Strasbourg Lily, E'-a-b 4°, c. 1652, with the chain line through the center of the watermark, the initials PR double-wired below Sheet size: 4 1/4 x 3 1/2 in. (10.8 x 8.9cm) Plate size: 4 x 3 3/8 in. (10.2 x 8.6cm) [Bartsch 131; Hind 259; Hollstein 131; New Hollstein 266] provenance: The Collection of Perry & June Ottenberg, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. $7,000-10,000

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3

CIRCLE OF GASPAR PIETER VERBRUGGEN THE YOUNGER (Flemish 1664-1730)

A Cartouche of Flowers with Diana Oil on canvas 48 1/4 x 32 7/8 in. (122.6 x 83.5cm) provenance: Private Collection, Florida. note: We wish to thank the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, also known as R.K.D, for their kind assistance in cataloguing this lot. $4,000-6,000

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500(detail) Years

A

lthough little is known about his life, short-lived Jacob de Backer was one of the most prolific painters of the Antwerp School during the final decades of the sixteenth century. The son of a “very good painter”, [Jacob was] “easily one of the best colorists that Antwerp has known: he had a fleshy manner of painting because he highlighted not just with white but with flesh color, so that he earned eternal fame among painters” (Karel van Mander, The Lives of the Illustrious Netherlandish and German Painters, 1994, vol. I, pp. 185-186). While his work is reminiscent of Tintoretto’s (1519-1594) colorful scenes and generally shows a strong influence of Roman and Florentine Mannerism, there is no evidence that the artist ever made a single trip to Italy, contrary to many of his fellow contemporaries such as Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640).

The present work’s imposing and complex multi-figured composition exemplifies de Backer’s exceptionally high artistic standards. The triptych is made from three different panels, with the central image depicting an Enthroned Virgin Mary surrounded by many female saints. While the left wing shows us the Annunciation, the right wing represents the Assumption of the Virgin i.e. the moment where her body ascended to heaven at the end of her earthly life. Such subjects allowed for the depiction of large groups of figures and motivated de Backer to explore the many idealized shapes of the human body.

An important symbol of Christian art, the triptych was a popular format for altar paintings in medieval churches. Simply-shaped and relatively small until the early fifteenth century, the altarpiece gradually took on considerable dimensions, becoming an important fixture within the church at the age of the Counter-Reformation. While the exterior wings are typically treated en grisaille and shut for the majority of the year, the interior panels are treated with extreme care and display an impressive range of colors, including gold, the idea being to reveal the scenes to the viewer in all their splendor. The use of grisaille dates back to 1450s. Their rendering, however, has evolved from simple trompe-l’oeil to more pictorial qualities, as shown here. While earlier artists such as Robert Campin (1375-1444) used grisaille to imitate sculpture, hence underlying the difference between the outside of the triptych (all things earthly) and the inside of it (all things heavenly), the present work implements a softer and more delicate touch. As a result, the relationship between the inside and the outside of the triptych becomes stylistically similar, creating a certain harmony.

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CIRCLE OF JACOB DE BACKER (Flemish c.1540-before 1600)

A Triptych The Central Panel: The Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saint Catherine, Saint Agnes, Saint Cecilia with Magdalene and Angels The Left Wing: The Adoration of the Shepherds The Right Wing: The Assumption of the Virgin Oil on panel Central panel: 47 x 54 in. (119.4 x 137.2cm) Wings (each): 47 x 21 1/2 in. (119.4 x 54.6cm) provenance: Christies, South Kensington, sale of April 19, 2000, lot 1.

Acquired directly from the above sale.

Private Collection, Oregon. $20,000-30,000

right: Front view of the triptych, closed.

With paintings en grisaille on the exterior panels.

(detail)

C

omfortably swaddled in the arms of his mother, the baby smiles. She tenderly looks back at him, seated on the steps of a wooden throne surmounted by a damask baldachin, and gives him her breast, from which a drop of milk has just escaped.

Her magnificent draped clothes fall heavily on the floor, whose tiles lead to a small open passage flanked by twisted columns. Outside, everything appears peaceful. Flowers, ferns and grasses are arranged in an amazing and detailed variety. Two white greyhounds face each other in the blooming vegetation, while a peacock scans the horizon, majestically installed on the crenellation of the surrounding wall. In the distance, a river flows gently towards a far away town.

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5 (detail) Years 17 Lot500

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5

MASTER OF THE EMBROIDERED FOLIAGE (Netherlandish, active Brussels, late 15th century)

“Nursing Madonna” Oil on cradled panel 33 3/4 x 28 in. (85.7 x 71.1cm) provenance: Private Collection, Spain, 1912.

The Spanish Gallery, London, 1912.

Collection of Sir Francis Beaufort Palmer, United Kingdom, until 1919.

His sale, Christie’s, London, sale of April 11, 1919, lot 33.

Buttery, London, 1920.

Collection of Calouste Gulbenkian, London, United Kingdom.

A gift from the above.

Collection of Lord Radcliffe, later Baron Radcliffe, London, United Kingdom.

His sale, Christie’s, London, sale of June 26, 1959, lot 45.

Faerber & Maison Ltd., London, United Kingdom.

Christie’s, London, sale of May 4, 1979, lot 123.

Collection of Mr. and Mrs. George Farkas, New York, New York.

A gift from the above.

New York University Art Collection, New York, New York. exhibited: “Exhibition of Flemish & Belgian Art (1300-1900), Royal Academy of Arts, London, United Kingdom, January 8-March 5, 1927, no. 131 (exhibited as “Rogier van der Weyden”).

“L’Art Flamand dans les Collections Britanniques et la Galerie Nationale de Victoria,” Musée Communal-Groeninge, Brussels, Belgium, August-September, 1956, no. 6 (as “School of Rogier van der Weyden”).

“Art Treasures Centenary Exhibition,” City Art Gallery, Manchester, United Kingdom, October 30-December 31, 1957, no. 21 (as “Master of the Embroidered Leaf”). literature: Flemish and Belgian Art, 1300-1900, an exhibition catalogue, London, 1927, no. 131, pp. 52-53.

Tancred Borenius, “Memorial Catalogue of the Exhibition of Flemish and British Art,” in Sir Martin Conway, London, 1927, no. 131, p. 57.

Max Friendländer, “Noch Etwas über das Verhältnis Rogier van der Weydens zu Memling,” in Oud-Holland, 1946, vol. LXI, pp. 15-16.

Max Friendländer, Early Netherlandish Painting, vol. IV, 1967, no. 89, plate 82 (illustrated as “Master of the Embroidered Leaf”).

L’Art Flamand dans les Collections Britanniques et la Galerie Nationale de Victoria, an exhibition catalogue, Bruges, 1956, p. 20.

F. Grossman, “Flemish Paintings at Bruges,” in The Burlington Magazine, vol. XCIX, January 1957, p. 4, note 12.

Art Treasures Centenary: European Old Masters, an exhibition catalogue, Manchester, 1957, no. 21, pp. 6-7.

Max Friendländer, “Rogier van der Weyden and the Master of Flémalle,” in Early Netherlandish Painting, vol. II, Éd. Nicole VeroneeVerhaegen, New York-Washington D.C., 1967, p. 90, add. 137.

Max Friendländer, “Hugo van der Goes,” in Early Netherlandish Painting, vol. IV, Éd. Nicole Veronee-Verhaegen, New York-Washington D.C., 1967, no. 89, plate 82, pp. 65, 82 and 101.

Le Maître au Feuillage Brodé: Secrets d’Atelier, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, R.M.N., 2005, fig. 5, p. 18 (illustrated).

Le Maître au Feuillage Brodé: Démarches d’Artistes et Méthodes d’Attribution d’Oeuvres à un Peintre Anonyme des Anciens Pays-Bas du XVe siècle, Symposium organised by Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, Librarie des Musées, 2007, discussed p. 173. $150,000-250,000

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500 Years

Madonna Lactans

The scene depicts the Virgin Mary breastfeeding the Infant Jesus. It belongs to the iconography of the Madonna Lactans, or Nursing Madonna, an intimate 12th century representation of the Madonna and Child, in which Mary is shown nursing Christ.

This painting, attributed to the Master of the Embroidered Foliage since 1926, is an exceptional example of his refined technique. Its composition is based on the comparable figures of Rogier van der Weyden’s (1399-1464) Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin, completed between 1435-1440 and now at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

The stylistic bond between the Master and Rogier van der Wyden is so evident that the present painting was thought to be completed

by Rogier van der Weyden himself whilst in the collections of Sir Francis Beaufort Palmer, and Calouste Gulbenkian in the 1920s.

Although our work only copies the left side of van der Weyden’s prototype, it is still very much filled with the “spiritual stillness” which characterizes the original painting of Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin, the noblest possible subject of the time (Saint Luke was considered the patron Saint of artists and depictions of him adorned the premises of the painters’ guild in various cities in Europe).

above: Rogier van der Weyden (Flemish 1399-1646), Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin, oil and tempera on oil panel, c. 1435-1440 (Boston Museum of Fine Arts).

below, left: Master of the Embroidered Foliage, Virgin and Child Enthroned, oil on panel, c. 1500 (Sterling and Francine Clark Institute, Williamstown)

A Medieval Mystery

The name “Master of the Embroidered Foliage” was coined in 1926 by German art historian Max Jakob Friedländer (1867-1958), who likened the way the artist painted the foliage in his works to the repeated pattern of stitches in embroidery. The director of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin from 1896 to 1933, Friedländer also worked as a critic and an expert.

Throughout his various studies and his countless volumes dedicated to the early Netherlandish painters of the late fifteenth century, he unveiled the existence of several small masters, to whom he gave conventional names. According to Friedländer, the Master of the Embroidered Foliage was active in Brussels in the late fifteenth century and produced (alone or with the help of a dedicated studio) a group of ten paintings, which all depicted the ‘Virgin Mary and Christ Child’ in similar poses. In each different version of the painting, the Master of Embroidered Foliage used varied backgrounds and made minor alterations to some details of the landscape. These variations and details were likely introduced to satisfy the wishes of individual buyers, which suggests a lucrative market.

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Almost all of the paintings attributed to the Master of the Embroidered Foliage were intended to glorify the Virgin and inspire devotion. In this particularly idealized vision of a world without sin, the artist inserted many details to symbolize the ultimate virtue of the Virgin. The throne hints at her future status as the Queen of Heaven, though out of humility, she sits down on the step. It is decorated with sculptural figures of Adam and Eve, individuals responsible for the Original Sin for which Christ and the Virgin will atone. In the background, the loggia gives access to an enclosed garden, or hortus conclusus - a typical representation of a heavenly paradise resembling the earthly world, which here symbolizes the Virgin’s chastity. The two white greyhounds in the grass, typically considered the Prince’s dogs, refer to Christ’s and Mary’s purity. As for the peacock, seen in the garden, it is a common Christian symbol of immortality and of Christ’s resurrection; legend held that the flesh of a peacock never decayed.

Recently, the painting has been examined under infrared and ultraviolet light. Comparative study of the infrared images and the finished panel indicates that much of the composition was established in detail prior to painting. However, the infrared imaging also revealed that some changes were made during the painting process.

The most significant change is seen in the right background.

Originally, the brick wall was positioned further in the distance, and two figures were standing facing the landscape, where the peacock is now perched.

Both were underdrawn but not rendered in paint. Such figures, which are generally accepted as Saint Anne and Saint Joachim, the parents of the Virgin, take their inspiration from Rogier’s famous aforementioned work.

The two figures also appear in The Virgin above: Infrared view of the underdrawn and Child Enthroned, figures in the present work. Image courtesy of Art Analysis & Research, New York, New York. another painting that is attributed to the Master of the Embroidered Foliage, and now at the Clark Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The background in the Williamstown painting is indeed, the exact-scale replica, with some modifications, of the background in Rogier’s Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin. Although fascinating, this is far from surprising since the Master used a large range of models, and stencils, based on Rogier’s paintings before adapting them to his new compositions.

Here, the artist depicts a humanized Virgin Mary, despite the presence of a halo above her head. Through contemporary architecture and landscape, he creates an intimate and familiar space for the viewer to feel assisted in his or her prayers. The small format of the painting, and the fact that it was most likely painted on three narrow sheets of oak panel, also marks a new movement in the Netherlandish art; when private buyers started to collect works of art to enhance their self-devotion, as opposed to life-size altars.

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500(detail) Years

(detail)

A Landscapist Since Friedländer, only two specific criteria have been used by art historians in order to link a work of art to the workshop of the Master of the Embroidered Foliage: the way the artist captured the foliage via small and systematic points of light; and the repetitive use of a motif derived from several compositions of Madonna and Child by Rogier van der Weyden.

When naming the Master of the Embroidered Foliage, Friedländer paid close attention to the way the artist captured the foliage in his paintings. He compared the properly spaced points of light to the repeated pattern of stitches one could notice in embroideries of this time period. According to Édouard de Callataÿ, the Master of the Embroidered Foliage was primarily a landscape specialist who worked for various other masters by painting the background of their paintings, hence participating in the most innovative artistic trends of the time.

Although this opinion is no longer considered true (too many stylistic differences among the Master’s backgrounds and landscapes have been noticed), the special attention given to the landscape in the works of the Embroidered Foliage shows an innovative trend in art history at the time. Traditionally, 15th century landscapists are all studied in a Ganto-Bruges context. As such in her 1991 thesis, C. Fisher decided to compare the floral motifs used by the Master of the Embroidered Foliage, with those that could be found throughout Hans Memling’s (1430-1494) oeuvre. Based on the similarities she found, especially in the common rendering of large, stylized ferns, she concluded it was possible that the Master was directly inspired by Memling, who died in Bruges in 1494. The presence of the two elongated greyhounds in the background of our painting seems to corroborate this assumption, since it clearly recalls the two seated dogs in Memling’s famous painting The Allegory of Vanity (now in Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg), making it a sort of iconographic “signature” used by several Flemish artists over the years to fill their compositional space.

Yet, by comparing the Master’s work to the art of the tapestry, Friedländer became the first to link his production to a region of Brussels, a city where painters had the sole privilege of producing tapestry cartoons. He confirmed this geographical assumption by proving the repetition of various models of a Virgin and Child after Rogier van der Weyden, the official painter of the city of Brussels. Today, scholars believe that the Master mainly worked after four models of ‘Virgins’ by Rogier van der Weyden. They are: The Nursing Madonna from Saint Luke Painting the Virgin (Boston Museum of Fine Arts), a lost Madonna which inspired the Triptych of Salve Regina of Tournai (Musée des Beaux Arts de Tournai), a seated Madonna and Child, only known through a drawing now at the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum of Rotterdam, and the Madonna Durán at the Prado Museum in Madrid.

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Studio Secrets The Master of the Embroidered Foliage is one of several anonymous painters with a name. Although the name itself is an invention of the early 20th century, the tradition of naming anonymous painters dates back to the late 18th century, when European scholars invented a system of conventional names to identify unknown artists.

Traditionally speaking, each conventional name is composed of the term “Master”, as in the one who excels in his art, followed by an adjective made up of a characteristic which can be observed in several works by the artist, such as a year repeatedly inscribed on the artwork, a monogram, or the way the artist depicted a place, a figure or a special motif. This system proved handy, and art historians still name new “Masters” today. In some way, it exemplifies the human need to personalize works of art since the time of the Renaissance - art is considered to be an individual creation, it needs to be attributed to an author in order to survive throughout the years and gain posterity.

Historically speaking, anonymous painters have always been considered minor artists. Their works have largely been depreciated, due to their anonymity, but also because of their quality. Art historians analyzed their paintings as mere copies of great masters such as Jan Van Eyck (1390-1441), Hans Memling or Rogier van der Weyden (although those artists themselves often copied others).

Luckily, this hasty judgment has since been revised. It is now commonly accepted that the art of imitating the great masters is far from secondary. On the contrary, it is anchored in a very old tradition, celebrated by Erasmus (1466-1536) himself, who encouraged young artists to look for already-existing images of perfect beauty, in order to recreate them (“The wise architect will choose the most perfect works, rather than common works, and the painter will choose the best paintings when they look for a model”). To really understand the art of the small masters, it is necessary to embrace the idea of a large-scale production directed by craftsmen rather than artists, who are able to reproduce a large number of models via mechanical processes (such as calks and stencils). From the middle of the fifteenth century to the middle of the sixteenth century, the art of copying became an unavoidable phenomenon in the Southern part of the Netherlands. Local artists produced a handful of paintings for the nearby religious brotherhoods, corporations and private collectors, all the more numerous with the emergence of a bourgeois clientele.

Altarpieces, domestic altars and simple images of devotion started to invade churches and homes. In order to meet the high demands, artists were forced to simplify their techniques, which ultimately resulted in an aesthetic impoverishment. To compensate for it, artists such as the Master of the Embroidered Foliage developed an art capable of distinguishing themselves: both narrative and decorative.

Today, the Master of the Embroidered Foliage is no longer thought to be a single artist or a unique workshop. According to Florence Gombert, curator at the Musée du Louvre, the Master’s works were not created by a single artist, but probably painted by different artists, from various workshops in the Flanders region, who referred to a common source. To her, it is then preferable to speak of a “group” of the Embroidered Foliage instead of a Master, as it is impossible to capture the personality of only one artist among the dozen works which Friedländer attributed to the “Master,” since all show drastic stylistic differences which prove they originated from different workshops from the Flanders region in the late fifteenth century. According to Gombert, the term “group” is the best way to break free from the idea of a single artistic personality or a unique workshop while respecting the coherence of the whole group.

(detail)

In 2005, the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille devoted an entire exhibition to the Group of the Embroidered Foliage. At the time, it was the only show exclusively dedicated to an anonymous Flemish Master of the late fifteenth century, a complete stranger to the general public to say the least, but also an enigmatic figure in the eyes of the medieval art specialists themselves. Since this date, it was made clear that the Group of the Embroidered Foliage was not the small, “systematic, and repetitive” Master which Friedlander first described in 1926. Our painting itself reveals a remarkable composition with a pre-naturalistic sensibility, especially in the careful rendering of the background landscape and its miniaturist details, a symbolistic testament to the urban Europe of the fifteenth century.

right: Hans Memling (1440-1494), Triptych of Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation (detail of the Vanity), oil on panel (Musée des Beaux Arts, Strasbourg) Image courtesy Musées de Strasbourg, M. Bertola opposite: Master of the Embroidered Foliage, Virgin and Child in a Landscape, oil on panel, c. 1492-1498 (The Minneapolis Institute of Arts).

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500 Years

T

hese paintings have been attributed to Franceso Della Questa (1652-1723). Thought to have been a pupil of Giovanni Battista Ruoppolo (1629-1693), Francesco della Questa was among the most active still life artists in Rome and Naples in the 1650s, building upon the innovations introduced into the genre by Caravaggio (1571-1610) in the early 17th century. His work was highly regarded enough to have him included in a list of still life painters drawn up by Viceroy and fine art collector, Marques del Carpio. Della Questa’s monumental paintings of fruits, vegetables and flowers (such as the present pair) are characterized by creative arrangements of still life elements, using exaggerated sizes, shapes and colors of fruits and vegetables for maximum artistic impact.

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25

500(detail) Years

(detail) 26

6

NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL (17th century)

Still Life with Flowers, Fruits, and Vegetables Beside a Fountain in a Villa Garden Together with a Companion Still Life The second indistinctly inscribed with a monogram bottom left, pair oils on canvas The first: 49 7/8 x 70 1/2 in. (126.7 x 179cm) The second: 50 1/8 X 70 1/2 in. (127.3 x 179cm) (2) provenance: Private Collection, Ohio.

Private Collection, Pennsylvania. $40,000-60,000

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500 Years

B

orn in Dordrecht in 1634, Nicolaes Maes became a pupil of Rembrandt (1606-1669) at the age of sixteen and trained in his studio until 1653.

Although he became famous for his numerous genre scenes, the artist soon shifted away from them and moved towards society portraiture in the 1650s, developing his very own style both inspired by the energy of his Master’s first works and the elegance of fellow Flemish artists such as Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641).

Maes moved to Amsterdam in 1674, established his workshop and quickly became a dramatically popular artist in the city. Indeed, as the Dordrecht based painter and writer Arnold Houbraken (16601719) wrote: “So much work came [Maes’s] way that

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it was deemed a favor if one person was granted the opportunity to sit for his portrait before another, and so it remained for the rest of his life.”

Toward the end of his life, Maes’ technique became increasingly grounded in the French mode of portraiture developed by Philippe de Champaigne (1602-1674) and relayed to the northern Netherlands by artists such as Adriaen Hanneman (c. 1601-1671) and Jan Mijtens (c. 1614-1670). Such is the case in the present work, which depicts an unknown wealthy gentleman in front of an abstract seascape, his right hand mysteriously resting on a stone pedestal: a rather unique composition in Maes’ body of work, paired with a wonderful rendition of fabric and sharp observation of the sitter’s individual physiognomies.

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ATTRIBUTED TO NICOLAES MAES (Dutch 1634-1693)

Portrait of a Gentleman, Three-Quarter Length Bears signature and date bottom left, oil on canvas 49 x 38 1/2 in. (124.5 x 97.8cm) provenance: Collection of the Marquess of Dufferin, London.

Lawrie & Co., London, sale of January 28, 1905, lot 93.

Collection of Mr. Thatcher M. Adams, New York, New York, 1920.

D.G. Dery, New York, 1923.

Collection of Emil Winter, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, sale of January 15-17, 1942, lot 452.

Collection of Julius Weitzner.

Munkacsi, New York.

Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, sale of November 12, 1952, lot 53.

Acquired directly from the above sale.

Private Collection, Florida.

Sotheby’s, New York, sale of January 15, 1987, lot 25.

Collection of Mr. and Mrs. George Farkas, New York, New York.

A Gift from the above.

New York University Art Collection, New York, New York. exhibited: “Hudson-Fulton Exhibition,” Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, September-November, 1910. literature: Wilhelm R. Valentiner, Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Old Dutch Masters Held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Connection with The HudsonFulton Celebration, an exhibition catalogue, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1910, no. 61, p. 218 (illustrated as “Portrait of a Man”).

Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, Macmillan and Co., Ltd., London, 19081927, Vol. VI, no. 399a, p. 569 (as “A Man of Rank”). note: We wish to thank Ms. Sabine Craft-Giepmans at the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, also known as R.K.D., for her assistance in cataloguing this lot. $8,000-12,000

29

500(detail) Years

8

AFTER CANALETTO (Italian 1697–1768)

“Riva Degli Schiavoni” Oil on canvas 30 1/2 x 50 in. (77.5 x 127cm) provenance: Collection of Lady Grant, Lowndes Square, London, United Kingdom.

Knoedler & Co., New York, New York.

Acquired from the above by 1958.

Collection of Harold Talbot, New York, New York.

Acquired from the above on July 16, 1958 (as “attributed to Bernardo Bellotto”).

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia. exhibited: “Painters of the Renaissance,” Artmobile, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, 1958-1961.

Lynchburg Fine Arts Center, Lynchburg, Virginia, September 23-October 15, 1962.

“Realities,” Artmobile, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, September 1981-May 1982; and September 1982-June 1985. literature: European Art in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1966., no. 31, p. 23 (illustrated).

W.G. Constable, Canaletto, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1962, vol. II, no. 122, p. 234 (illustrated). note: The present work follows the composition of the 1736 painting

by Canaletto, now in Sir John Soane’s Museum in London.

The original oil is 50 x 80 inches. $8,000-12,000

W

illem Koekkoek was a member of one of the better known and most highly regarded families of realist painters in 19th century Holland.

Born in Amsterdam, he was the grandson of Jan Hermanus Koekkoek (1778-1851), the son of Hermanus Koekkoek the Elder (1815-1882) and the brother of Johannes Hermanus Barend Koekkoek (1840-1912).

Other painters in the family included Johannes Barend Cornelis, a first cousin, Barend Cornelis (1803-1862) and Marinus Adrianus (1807-1868).

Willem studied art under his father Hermanus, and is best known for his town scenes, including in winter, as in the present example. Although he mainly lived in The Hague, Utrecht and Amsterdam, Willem Koekkoek frequently exhibited in Leeuwarden and Rotterdam. Concentrating almost exclusively on Netherlandish townscapes, which he liked to imagine rather than copy directly from nature, Koekkoek found a market for his work amongst the affluent middle class in the Netherlands and Great Britain.

(detail) 32

9

willem koekkoek (Dutch 1839-1895)

Town in Winter Signed ‘W. Koekkoek’ bottom right, oil on canvas 17 3/8 x 23 7/8 in. (44.1 x 60.6cm) provenance: Private Collection, Pennsylvania. note: We wish to thank the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, also known as R.K.D., for confirming the authenticity of the present lot. $15,000-25,000

33

500 Years

giulio aristide sartorio Lots 10-13

G

iulio Aristide Sartorio was born in Rome to a family of artists. After studying at the Institute of Fine Arts in Rome, Sartorio started to exhibit, entering a Symbolist painting into the Roman International Exposition in 1883, and winning the gold medal at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris. He subsequently traveled to England, where he became familiar with the works of the British Pre-Raphaelites, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) and Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898). These painters and their influence through both subject matter and style, were precursors to the Symbolist movement, which deeply impacted Sartorio, now best known as a Symbolist painter of both landscapes and fantasy motifs based on classic poems.

and legends. He was also an illustrator, teacher, writer, and a film producer, as well as director over the course of his career.

The following lots illustrate Sartorio’s pleasure (and keen ability) to paint landscapes, both with and without figurative elements. Highlighting nature and humanity in harmony, the artist depicts children playing on beaches, men hauling in bountiful nets full of fish, as well as jagged mountains juxtaposed with luminous trees. In each of these paintings, the viewer is presented with seemingly quotidian subject matter; however they are imbued with deeper meaning, and can be interpreted in a myriad of ways, true to the Symbolist philosophy

10

GIULIO ARISTIDE SARTORIO (Italian 1860-1932)

“Stretto Di Magellano, Un Fiord”

11

GIULIO ARISTIDE SARTORIO (Italian 1860-1932)

“Brasile”

Signed, dated and titled ‘G.A. Sartorio MXMXXIV’ [1924] upper left, oil on canvas laid down to board 19 3/8 x 30 5/8 in. (49.2 x 77.8cm)

Signed, titled and dated ‘G.A. Sartorio/MCMXXIV’ [1924] verso, oil on canvas laid down to board 22 1/2 x 30 in. (57.2 x 76.2cm)

provenance: Private Collection, Massachusetts.

provenance: Private Collection, Massachusetts.

$5,000-7,000

$7,000-9,000

12

GIULIO ARISTIDE SARTORIO (Italian 1860-1932)

“Haiti I Meticci” (Mestizos from Haiti)

13

GIULIO ARISTIDE SARTORIO (Italian 1860-1932)

On the Beach

Signed, dated and titled ‘G.A. Sartorio MCMXXIV [1924] bottom right, oil on canvas laid down to board 14 7/8 x 19 3/8 in. (37.8 x 49.2cm)

Signed and located ‘G.A. Sartorio Roma’ bottom right, oil on canvas laid down to board 31 1/2 x 23 7/8 in. in. (80 x 60.6cm.)

provenance: Private Collection, Massachusetts.

provenance: Private Collection, Massachusetts.

$6,000-8,000

$10,000-15,000

38

A

lthough trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Parma, Italian-born artist Alberto Pasini moved to Paris in 1851 to refine his technique.

There, he befriended other artists including Eugéne Fromentin (1820-1876), Jules Dupré (1811-1889) and Théodore Rousseau (1812-1867), all of whom contributed to the development of his palette and plein-air philosophy.

In 1853, the artist was admitted to the Paris Salon, which enabled him to join the workshop of the famous painter Théodore Chassériau (1819-1856), who introduced him to Orientalism. When Chassériau was too ill to accompany Ambassador Nicolas Prosper Bourée (1811-1886) on a diplomatic mission to Persia in February 1855, Pasini replaced him, thus embarking on the first of many journeys to the East, including memorable stops in Turkey and Egypt.

Back in Paris, his artistic qualities were quickly acknowledged. His dazzling depictions of bazaars, market places and mosques made him a fortune, and he earned several honors such as the Légion d’Honneur in 1878. Of Pasini, critic Virgilio Colombo said: “[He] faithfully reproduces the architectural accessories, which sparkle in the sun and bathe in the blue shadows: in this, he is unrivaled and shows extraordinary ingenuity to create huge painting in small canvases. What skill in painting (...) thoughtful knights, with sumptuous trappings, damask-decorated weapons, kiosks, market and military camps, the intimate recesses of the harem, the profiles of city with jagged spires and minarets (...) The oriental scenes are exquisitely treated.”

Featured in the present lot are four gentlemen caring for their horses at the blacksmith’s shop. On a very small, almost miniature scale, the artist is able to capture the subtle effects of light on the stonework of the surrounding buildings, the rich textures of the costumes of the figures, as well as the musculature of the horses who patiently wait in the courtyard.

The light pinks, blues and greens, and the contrast between the sunlit facade and the strongly shaded foreground are all hallmarks of the artist’s oeuvre. Also typical is his habit of placing small figures within a closed composition, where an imposing architectural element serves as a backdrop for the scene, thus reducing the horizon line and filling the picture plane with decorative and picturesque details. The only sense of depth truly results from the foreshortened horses and the dramatic shadows on the ground, creating an intimate space where the spectator is invited to gaze with awe. Although the exact setting is not known, the ornaments on the building recall the decorative facades which Pasini witnessed during his many trips to Constantinople (modern Istanbul).

14

ALBERTO PASINI (Italian 1826-1899)

The Blacksmith’s Courtyard Signed ‘A. Pasini’ bottom left, oil on canvas 9 5/8 x 7 5/8 in. (24.4 x 19.4cm) provenance: Private Collection, Pennsylvania. $25,000-40,000

39

500 Years

40

15

WILLIAM CLARKSON STANFIELD (British, 1793-1867)

A Pair of Venetian Views One signed and dated ‘W.C. Stanfield/1835’ bottom left, pair oils on canvas Each: 20 1/2 x 32 1/4 in. (52.1 x 81.9cm) (2) provenance: Frost & Reed Ltd., London Private Collection, Delaware. $3,000-5,000

16

PAUL JEAN CLAYS (Belgian 1819-1900)

“Bateaux Pêcheurs au Port d’Ostende”

17

LÉON FRANÇOIS COMERRE (French 1850–1916)

Les Aveugles

Signed ‘P.J. Clays’ bottom right; also titled verso, oil on panel 17 x 11 3/4 in. (43.2 x 29.8cm)

Signed and located ‘Comerre/Capri’ bottom left, oil on canvas 19 1/2 x 13 1/2 in. (49.5 x 34.3cm)

provenance: Private Collection, Pennsylvania.

provenance: Giafferi, Paris, sale of February 3, 2003, lot 2.

Acquired directly from the above sale.

Private Collection, Virginia.

$1,000-1,500

$2,000-3,000

41

500 Years

B

orn in Madrid during a tumultuous time in Spain’s history, Martin Rico y Ortega spent much of his early and mid-career in Paris, later settling in Venice for the remainder of his life. Initially trained by his brother, an engraver, he also studied landscape painting at the Escuela de Bellas Artes in Madrid. Through his teacher Jenaro Pérez Villaamil (1807-1854), he was introduced to the works of British artist John Constable (1776-1837) and Barbizon painters, which he met later in Paris. Their practice of painting en plein-air, and their focus on depicting everyday life greatly influenced the artist.

After his career blossomed in Paris, Rico y Ortega relocated to Venice in the 1870s, deeply affected by the city’s environs and the distinctive Venetian light that inspired so many others before him.

His style draws from numerous influences, including seemingly opposing Impressionism and photographic realism. While living and working in Venice he painted a myriad of cityscapes, such as the present lot. The famed canal is prominently depicted here, complete with the charming and telltale signifiers of Venice, notably the gondolas and gondoliers, architectural details, and the bridges which span the waterway. Women with vibrant red fans mill about on the bridge, and a gondolier departs with a couple for a leisurely ride on the canal. The blue of the sky and whites and grays of the clouds reflect brilliantly in the water’s surface. A picturesque view of the beloved Italian city, the canvas reveals Rico y Ortega’s deep affinity for it, and skillful ability to capture it on the panel.

18

MARTIN RICO Y ORTEGA (Spanish 1833-1908)

Venetian Canal (Ponte Storto) Signed ‘Rico’ bottom center left, oil on panel 14 1/8 x 9 1/4 in. (35.9 x 23.5cm) provenance: Private Collection, Pennsylvania. $12,000-18,000

42

43

500 Years

44

19

CHARLES CLÉMENT CALDERON (French 1870–1906)

Le Bassin De Saint Marc Au Couchant; Along With Three Other Venetian Scenes All signed 'Calderon' bottom right; also with artist's wax seal on the back of three of the works, oils on panel Each: 5 1/2 x 8 3/4 in. (14cm x 22.2cm) (4) provenance: Private Collection, United Kingdom. $8,000-12,000

45

500 Years

R

egarded as a highly accomplished 19th century Orientalist and landscape painter, Hermann David Salomon Corrodi was born in Frascati and travelled extensively throughout Europe, the Middle East, the Far East and North Africa - including, as in the present work, Egypt. Many of these locales served as subject matter for his paintings. He studied at both the Accademia de San Luca in Rome, where he would later go on to teach, and in Paris. A friend of Queen Victoria’s (1819-19101), Corrodi also received commissions for history paintings from the British royal family and Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941). After receiving a gold medal at the Vienna Universal exhibition in 1873, he exhibited at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris. Corrodi particularly excelled in painting views along the Nile River, depicting the river and its environs bathed in a golden light, sometimes at sunset, other times at sunrise. He also painted views of Cairo, Jerusalem, the Pyramids, Karnak, Salerno, Naples and Rome.

46

(detail)

20

HERMANN DAVID SALOMON CORRODI (Italian 1844–1905)

On the Banks of the Nile Signed and inscribed ‘H. Corrodi Roma’ bottom left, oil on canvas 29 1/4 x 17 5/8 (74.3 x 44.8cm) provenance: Private Collection, Sao Paulo, circa 1989.

By descent in the family.

Private Collection, New York, New York.

Sotheby’s New York, sale of January 30, 2016, lot 788.

Acquired directly from the above sale.

Private Collection, Virginia. $15,000-25,000

47

500 Years

B

orn in Lima, Peru, Federico del Campo studied at the Real Academia de Bella Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, establishing a friendship with fellow painter Lorenzo Valles (1830-1910). Similar to his contemporaries Martin Rico y Ortega (1833-1908), Franz Unterberger (1838-1902), and Antonietta Brandeis (1848-1926), del Campo is best known for his luminous views of Venice, in which architecturally accurate buildings, shimmering canals and gondolas are rendered with great detail, using short, precise brushstrokes and delicate glazes. In the present paintings, the viewer is invited into the picture plane, his or her eye following the winding canals rendered with single vanishing point perspective, all the while taking note of the blue skies, gondoliers and figures walking along the promenades. Del Campo masterfully painted, both in vertical and horizontal formats, such locations as the Palazzo Ducale, Santa Maria della Salute, the Doge’s Palace, the Ca d’Oro, the Grand Canal and Saint Mark’s Square.

21

FEDERICO DEL CAMPO (Peruvian 1837–1927)

Venetian Canals; a Pair Both signed, located and dated 'F. del Campo/Venezia/1899' (one bottom right, the other bottom left), pair oils on canvas Each: 13 7/8 x 9 1/4 in. (35.2 x 23.5cm) (2) provenance: Private Collection, United Kingdom. $30,000-50,000

48

49

500(detail) Years

Lot 30 (pair) 50

51

500 Years

22

JOHN BENTHAM DINSDALE (British 1927-2006)

“Capture” (The Prince de Neufchatel) Signed ‘John Bentham Dinsdale’ bottom left; also titled and signed verso, oil on canvas 29 7/8 x 39 7/8 in. (75.9 x 101.3cm) provenance: Sotheby’s, London, sale of December 14, 2006, lot 90.

Acquired directly from the above sale.

Private Collection, Virginia. note: The Prince de Neufchatel was one of the fastest American schooner-rigged privateers.

Built in New York by Adam and Noah Brown around 1812-1814, she met a tragic end in December 1814, when she was outrun by three British frigates and had to surrender.

Although American in design, the Neufchatel mainly operated in European waters, damaging British shipping during the War of 1812. At one point in her career she fought off the British frigate Endymion, who was considered one the fastest ships in the Royal Navy. $2,000-3,000

52

23

JOHN BENTHAM DINSDALE (British 1927-2006)

“The Taeping” Signed ‘John Bentham Dinsdale’ bottom right; also titled and signed verso, oil on canvas 29 7/8 x 39 7/8 in. (75.9 x 101.3cm) provenance: Sotheby’s, London, sale of December 14, 2006, lot 91.

Acquired directly from the above sale.

Private Collection, Virginia. note: The Taeping was an English tea clipper built in 1863 by Robert Steele & Company at Greenock. Designed for Captain Alexander Rodgers, it participated in the Great Tea Race of 1866 and narrowly defeated the ship Ariel. After a notable career and many other tea races, Taeping was wrecked on Ladd’s Reef in the South China Sea, on its way from Amoy to New York. $2,000-3,000

53

500 Years

T

he son of well-known artist Charles Soulacroix (1825-1900), Frẻderic Soulacroix excelled at painting detailed, realistic depictions of elegant figures in period costume. His subjects are typically engaged in such pursuits as conversing and sharing secrets, relaxing, engaged in courtship, reflecting, enjoying tea and playing music. Soulacroix was a master at painting beautifully dressed members of French high society at leisure and in refined settings - mostly indoors, or more rarely, as in the present work, outdoors with meticulous detail and with an emphasis on luxurious settings and accoutrements, along with shimmering satins and silks. Soulacroix was a prodigy: at the age of 15 he entered the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, and was admitted to the Scuola di Pittura just three years later.

54

24

FRÉDÉRIC SOULACROIX (French 1858–1933)

Femme Acoudée À La Rambarde Signed 'F. Soulacroix' bottom right; also inscribed with artist on bottom stretcher verso, oil on canvas 29 3/4 x 18 in. (75.6 x 45.7cm) provenance: Private Collection, United Kingdom. $15,000-25,000

55

500(detail) Years

25

VITTORIO REGGIANINI (Italian 1858-1938)

Parlour Scene with Two Ladies Signed ‘Reggianini’ bottom right, oil on canvas 19 3/4 x 15 3/4 in. (50.2 x 40cm) provenance: Private Collection, Pennsylvania. $10,000-15,000

56

26

R. KLAUSNER (German 19th Century)

Still Life with Flowers Signed ‘R. Klausner’ bottom left, oil on canvas 20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 61cm) provenance: Cooling Galleries, London, United Kingdom.

Sotheby’s, London, sale of January 25, 2007, lot 183.

Acquired directly from the above sale.

Private Collection, Virginia. $5,000-8,000

27

CHARLES ÉDOUARD EDMOND DELORT (French 1841-1895)

En Sortant de la Calèche Signed ‘C. Delort’ bottom right, oil on cradled panel 21 7/8 x 14 1/2 in. (55.6 x 36.8cm) provenance: Private Collection, Pennsylvania. $3,000-5,000

57

500 Years

58

28

MARIE FRANÇOIS FIRMIN-GIRARD (French 1838-1921)

Cathẻdrale Notre-Dame de Paris Signed ‘Firmin-Girard’ bottom left, oil on panel 14 3/4 x 21 1/4 in. (37.5 x 54cm) provenance: Private Collection, Pennsylvania. note: Born near the Swiss border in France, Firmin-Girard relocated to Paris at the age of sixteen, where he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, eventually becoming a pupil to famed Orientalist painting, Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904). As the 1870s brought Impressionism to the fore, Firmin-Girard began painting his landscapes and genre scenes in a style meant to capture the moment, using colorful brushstrokes that aimed at representing the shifting of light and producing thicker, visible impasto. The artist’s quintessential cityscapes, such as the present lot for instance, often incorporate interesting perspectives, with distinctive vantage points and vanishing points. While he does present highly recognizable and famous buildings, such as the Cathedral of Notre Dame in the center of the scene, the unique angle of the road as it passes through the canvas and dissipates in the far right corner makes this painting more than an average representation of the heart of Paris.

Featuring street vendors, laborers, and bustling city dwellers, the vignette is a pleasing rendition of a picturesque Parisian day.

We wish to thank Mr. Patrick Faucheur, great-grandson of Marie François Firmin-Girard, for kindly confirming the authenticity of the present lot, which will be included in his forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné of the artist’s work. $15,000-25,000

59

500(detail) Years

29

HENRI FANTIN-LATOUR (French 1836–1904)

“Baigneuses” Signed ‘Fantin’ bottom right, oil on canvas 19 7/8 x 24 1/8 in. (50.5 x 61.3cm) Executed in 1895. provenance: F. Tempelaere.

Allard & Noël, Paris.

Kapferer, Paris.

His sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, sale of June 26, 1929, lot 40. Émile Laffon, Paris.

Hôtel Drouot, Paris, sale of March 15, 1968, lot 57.

Acquired directly from the above sale.

Antoine Carmoli, Paris.

Acquired directly from the above.

Private Collection, Paris.

By descent in the family.

Private Collection, New Jersey. literature: Madame Fantin-Latour, Catalogue de l’Oeuvre Complet de Henri Fantin-Latour, Floury Éditeur, Paris, 1911, no. 1580, p. 167. note: We wish to thank Galerie Brame & Lorenceau for confirming the authenticity of the present lot. The painting will be included in their forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné of the artist’s work. $20,000-30,000

“

(detail) 62

I do not make flowers anymore.

I can, thanks to heaven, do what pleases me�

T

he art of Fantin-Latour is admittedly hard to comprehend. Yet, his name resonates in everyone’s mind as the artist who immortalized the famous “Atelier des Batignolles” and established for eternity the features of the greatest Impressionists such as Claude Monet (1840-1926), Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) and Frédéric Bazille (1841-1870), as well as the great 19th century poets like Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891), Paul Verlaine (18441896) and Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867). His dedication to the genre of the still life is what made him famous and rich, with nearly 1,500 works of this kind - all masterpieces of sensuality and emotion.

The present work is linked to a lesser-known part of the artist’s (late) career: a set of imaginative mythological compositions which were among the first works by the artist to enter French public collections at the turn of the twentieth century.

The “imaginative” works of Fantin-Latour have always been a part of the artist’s career, even though he took some time to fully explore their potential. Indeed, it was not until the late 1860s that Fantin completely turned away from Realism. Until then, the artist, who greatly admired the work of Gustave Courbet (1819-1877), felt that his true mission was to observe and restore on canvas what nature allowed him to see. In 1869, the artist declared to his patron Edwin Edwards (1823-1879): “I have changed a lot (...) Today, I consider time spent as a school. School of art study, school from nature, school of human race. This last school is the one of which I am the most disgusted. I’m done with it. I do not want to show anything anymore. It’s gone.” (quoted in French in Léonce Bénédicte, Catalogue de L’Oeuvre de Fantin-Latour, 1906, p. 27). This change of mind can be explained by the great success his still lifes garnered in England, enabling him to paint what he truly desired, without having to fulfill any of his patron’s commissions. In January 1899, Fantin explained in a letter to his friend Otto Scholderer (1834-1902): “ I do not make flowers anymore. I can, thanks to heaven, do what pleases me.” (quoted in Fantin-Latour: À Fleur de Peau, exhibition catalogue, 2016).

As evidenced in the present work, Fantin’s works of imagination are characterized by a cotton-like atmosphere, which the artist renders through fuzzy and wispy touches - a distinct sign of his late pictorial language. Here, Fantin depicts two female bathers at twilight. While one is shown seated on the river bend, her back to the spectator, the other red-haired figure is bathing in the river, flowers in her left hand and a wet cloth at her waist. Both figures are treated individually.

The two do not communicate and are not linked by any sort of narrative. Fantin sets them in a barely sketched landscape, which he purposely leaves empty to strengthen the overall mystery of the scene.

Through this work, and more generally speaking through his Bathers series, Fantin pays tribute to the beauty of the female body. As Gustave Kahn (1859-1936) recalls, “Fantin is a lover of feminine beauty and nude (...) the feminine nude, he returns constantly, with piety, sweetness, trembling recollection, modesty and a kind of ecstatic passion” (quoted in Gustave Kahn, Fantin-Latour, 1926, pp. 43-44).

Women have always been one of Fantin-Latour’s favorite subjects. The artist started his career by representing the women around him, such as his sister and his wife. Later in life, as typified here, he repeatedly explored the purely feminine theme of “la toilette,” always making sure the bare composition would serve the female figures’ sensuality.

above: Henri Fantin-Latour (1836-1904), Danseuses: La Ronde des Nymphes, oil on canvas, 1900 (Musée Hyacinthe-Rigaud, Perpignan)

Fantin’s particular style is a clever mix of long-term influences.

Here, the artist clearly is inspired by the Old Masters he observed and copied while a student at the Louvre. From these years of intense observation and copying, he acquired the required maturity and confidence to take great liberty in terms of composition and colors. Thus, while the present composition and effects of soft light recall the works of 18th century artists Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) and Pierre-Paul Prud’hon (1758-1823), the nude figures are directly inspired by Italian masters Titian (c. 1485-1576) and Giorgione (c. 1477-1510), and the purely Venetian colors are particularly reminiscent of Paolo Veronese’s (1528-1588) palette.

This constant back and forth between the study of the Old Masters and the observation of Nature is also balanced by the very modern attention that Fantin-Latour dedicated to photography. At the time, photography was not only a source of interest and distraction for the artist, but also an important source of inspiration for his future works, as was the case for many of his fellow artists. Thanks to its low cost and acuteness, photography had become a very useful tool for creation (it was also practical to overcome Fantin’s personal lack of models), and Fantin used it for a lot of his preparatory drawings.

The paintings of Fantin-Latour continuously take on new meanings and depths, making him one of the most accomplished poets of the nineteenth century - modern, yet aware of the past history of art and its transformations. Similar to Pierre-Auguste Renoir (who reached a perfect synthesis of Impressionist technique, extraordinary colors and arcadian timelessness, with his Bathers), Fantin Latour’s later works flourish with freedom and pleasure. Reflecting on Fantin’s career, Édouard Manet (1832-1883) concluded: “Fantin, without ignoring the work of others, proves (…) that it was possible to find a way between reigning Academism and revolutionary Impressionism” (quoted in Fantin-Latour: À Fleur de Peau, exhibition catalogue, 2016).

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500 Years

W

ith his ability to capture the effects of sunlight and shadow, and to deftly portray the atmosphere of a landscape by highlighting both its natural and sublime elements, Ivan Choultsé is considered one of Russia’s most well-regarded painters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, he received his formal training from the celebrated miniaturist and painter Konstantin Krijitsky (1858-1911). While still in his twenties, the artist traveled throughout Asia, North Africa and Europe, painting sunny, summer landscapes in the Mediterranean and sparkling, snowy scenes in Switzerland, before eventually establishing residency in Paris. There, he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1923, after which the demand for his work increased substantially. His solo show at Galérie Gerald Frères, where his work sold out on the first day, led to another one-man exhibition in London as well as the Exposition Universelle in Paris. Amongst his many accolades, the highest was his election to serve as Czar Nicholas II’s Court Painter, assuming the prior role of his former teacher.

The present work depicts the Bois de Boulogne, a large wooded park on the western edge of the 16th arrondissement of Paris. A remnant of the ancient oak forest of Rouvray, the Bois was named for a chapel, Notre-Dame de Boulogne La Petite, which was built under the command of Philip IV (1268-1314) in the early 14th century. Several centuries later, the park was re-imagined and re-designed by Napoleon III (1808-1873), who wished to create a public space, such as Hyde Park in London, where people of various classes could go to enjoy the outdoors. Choultsé chose the Bois as a frequent subject, admiring its pristine beauty and calm environs. The warm color palette of yellows, oranges, and browns creates a serene and inviting scene bathed in light. Peeking through the trees which are laden with and surrounded by autumn leaves, the sun dapples the ground with luminous beams, while also creating strong shadows. The river becomes a mirror for the sun, reflecting its radiance along the horizon line as it flows through the park. Scenes such as this are a quintessential representation of Choultsé’s oeuvre.

64

65

500(detail) Years

66

30

IVAN FEDOROVICH CHOULTSÉ (Russian 1877–1932)

“Fin Octobre, Bois de Boulogne” Signed ‘Iw F. Choultsé’ bottom right; also inscribed with title in pencil on stretcher verso, oil on canvas 21 1/2 x 25 3/4 in. (54.6 x 65.4cm) provenance: The Estate of Stephen Lincoln Goodale III, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. $50,000-70,000

67

500 Years

31

ANDRÉ EUGÈNE DAUCHEZ (French 1870-1948)

“Sous les Pins” Signed ‘André Dauchez’ bottom right, oil on canvas 28 3/4 x 39 1/2 in. (73 x 100.3cm) provenance: Collection of Mr. Charles B. Samuels.

A bequest from the above in 1941.

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia. $4,000-6,000

68

32

PAUL-ÉMILE PISSARRO (French 1884-1972)

Personnages devant une Église Signed and dated ‘Paulémile. Pissarro. 1928’ bottom left, oil on canvas 25 3/4 x 21 1/2 in. (65.4 x 54.6cm) provenance: Private Collection, Virginia. note: We wish to thank Ms. Lélia Pissarro for confirming the authenticity of the present Lot. A Certificate of Authenticity may be purchased directly from Stern Pissarro Gallery by the successful bidder. $5,000-8,000

69

500 Years

70

71

500(detail) Years

33

GEORGE HOWARD, 9TH EARL OF CARLISLE (British 1843-1911)

“The Four Seasons” Pencil and grey wash heightened with white and gold on paper Sheet size, each: 32 1/2 x 14 1/4 in.

(82.6 x 36.2cm) provenance: Anonymous Sale.

Sotheby’s, Belgravia, sale of February 12, 1974, lot 42 (as “Frederic Shields”).

Acquired directly from the above sale.

Private Collection, London, United Kingdom.

Christie’s, London, sale of December 11, 2014, lot 20.

Acquired directly from the above sale.

Private Collection, New York, New York. $15,000-25,000

Left to right: Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring

72

73

500 Years

74

500 Y

G

eorge Howard, the 9th Earl of Carlisle, was a British aristocrat and politician who challenged his father’s expectations by insisting on becoming a painter. He studied in Italy with Giovanni Costa (18261903) before returning to London in 1865 to continue his training at the Kensington and Heatherley Schools of Art. Within the Pre-Raphaelites, he was especially close to Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) whom he befriended in 1865. Soon, Howard would become one of the artist’s closest confidents. A generous patron, he acquired a few early paintings by Burne-Jones and later commissioned major works for his numerous residences.

In 1867, Howard asked the architect Philip Webb (18311915) to build a house in London, located at no. 1 Palace Green, in the Arts & Crafts style, on a street that was known as Millionaires’ Row. Upon its completion in

1872, textile designer William Morris (1834-1896) was asked to furnish and decorate the house, while BurneJones was commissioned to paint a series of canvases in the dining room. This house, as well as the Howard Castle and the Naworth Castle (which he inherited from his uncle, and whose towers can be seen in the background of our present work, “Summer”) became important artistic locale for celebrities such as Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) and Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892).

Howard’s connection with Burne-Jones and Webb provide an interesting source of inspiration for these highly decorative drawings. While Webb was working on the Green Dining Room (now Morris Room) at the South Kensington Museum (now Victoria and Albert Museum), Burne-Jones, who was truly a tutor to Howard, provided a design for the room’s stainedglass windows. It is highly possible that Howard would have seen Burne-Jones’ series of six watercolor studies relating to this design, known today as “The Garland.”

Indeed, the imagery of Howard’s Four Seasons echoes this famous series, which show young women gathering flowers, an early expression of the Aesthetic Movement.

above: Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898), The Garland, watercolor and bodycolor heightened with gum arabic and with scratching out on paper (Private Collection).

Image courtesy Bridgeman Images.

upper right: Benjamin Scott of Carlisle (1869-1894), Photograph of Edward Burne-Jones with George Howard and his wife Rosalind, taken at Naworth Castle, Cumbria, c. 1874, from the Howard Family Photograph Album.

Image courtesy of Peter Nahum at the Leicester Galleries.

Representing seasons as alluring women was a typical theme of the 1860s. It echoed the general philosophy of the time, in which narrative considerations tended to give way to qualities of mood and poetic sentiment.

Abstract and evocative imagery such as seasons aimed at contrasting and criticizing the prosaic subjects with moralist inflection that the majority of English artists favored in the 1850s. By doing so, Howard lived by Théophile Gautier’s (1811-1872) conclusion which he expressed in the preface to Mademoiselle de Maupin in 1834, dismissing the idea of a morality in artistic expression.

34

GERALD LESLIE BROCKHURST (British 1890–1978)

“La Fin” (Mythological Figures) Signed and titled ‘G.L. Brockhurst’ on label verso, tempera on panel 10 15/16 x 16 15/16 in. (27.8 x 43cm) provenance: Private Collection, New Jersey. $5,000-8,000

76

35

EDMUND BLAMPIED (British 1886–1966)

Horses in a Woodland Landscape Signed ‘Blampied’ bottom center left, watercolor on paper Sheet size: 21 3/8 x 26 5/8 in.

(54.3 x 67.2cm) provenance: Private Collection, Maryland. $5,000-8,000

36

GEORGES WASHINGTON (British 1827–1910)

Arab Horsemen Crossing a Stream Signed 'G. Washington' bottom left, oil on canvas 20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 61cm) provenance: Crafoord Auktioner, Lund, sale of June 2, 2018, lot 61.

Acquired directly from the above sale.

Private Collection, United Kingdom. $5,000-8,000

77

500 Years

J

ohn Frederick Herring, Senior was one of the leading British sporting art painters in the first half of the nineteenth century. Although he began sketching animals as a child, his artistic career really began by painting signs and coaches. In his spare time, he painted portraits of horses to decorate inn parlors, and his talent was eventually recognized by wealthy patrons who commissioned him to paint their hunters and racehorses, among them the Duke of Orleans (1810-1842), son of French King Louis Philippe (1773-1850).

Throughout his career, Herring painted most of the winners from important races including the Epsom Derby, St. Leger and the Oaks. In 1845, he was appointed Animal Painter to H.R.H. the Duchess of Kent (1786-1861), Queen Victoria’s mother, and later received many commissions from the Queen herself, which secured his position as one of the most successful and prolific artists of the century.

As a consequence of his rapidly improving fortune, John Frederick Herring decided to move from London to Kent, taking up the lease on Meopham Park, near Tonbridge. There, he slowly shifted his style from racing subjects to more domestic, sentimental country scenes, such as the present small-scaled vignettes, which depict the farmyard animals Herring would encounter every day. This last body of works proved immensely popular and financially remunerative for the artist, who kept exploring the theme until his death in 1865.

(detail) 78

37

JOHN FREDERICK HERRING THE ELDER (British 1795–1865)

Sow with Suckling Piglets Signed and dated illegibly bottom right, oil on panel 10 x 12 in. (25.4 x 30.5cm) provenance: Private Collection, Pennsylvania. $8,000-12,000

79

500 Years

38

JOHN FREDERICK HERRING THE ELDER (British 1795–1865)

Study of Two Horse Heads Signed and dated ‘J.F. Herring Senr/1848’ bottom center, oil on canvas Tondo 13 x 13 in. (33 x 33cm) provenance: Private Collection, Pennsylvania. $8,000-12,0000

80

81

500(detail) Years

Two Quintessential Works by

Sir Alfred James Munnings

T

he son of a mill worker, Sir Alfred Munnings was born in 1878 in Mendham, Suffolk, in England. At the age of fourteen, he became the apprentice to a printer in nearby Norwich and began to produce graphic work and posters. His training in lithography helped him develop a certain fluency in his work, few artists being able to paint with such speed and certainty. Munnings’ skills as a fine artist were further honed while attending The Norwich School of Art in his spare time. Although Munnings sought to serve as a soldier during the Great War, he was deemed unfit to fight due to his partial blindness. However, he did serve as War Artist for the Canadian Cavalry Brigade and provided an invaluable historic record of the wartime years.

Despite the fact that he lost sight in his right eye due to an accident, Munnings' formidable talent soon became apparent, and from 1899 onwards he would exhibit at the Royal Academy. Munnings was an enthusiastic horseman and most of his greatest works featured either the racecourse or the hunt. His sporting scenes have developed a reputation as being amongst the greatest of the twentieth century, although he also painted very personal interpretations of the English landscape, as well as portraits.

A figurative painter who outwardly rejected Modernism, Munnings' style and brushstrokes were influenced by Impressionism, using naturalistic colors to depict the English countryside and surrounding areas.

The First World War greatly influenced Munnings’ preferred subject matter. When he fully concentrated upon equestrian work, Munnings was so successful in what was, at the time, an unfashionable field that he rose from his relatively humble beginnings to become both a knight and the President of the Royal Academy between 1944 and 1949.

82Sir Alfred J. Munnings in his studio, c. 1907. © The Estate of Sir Alfred Munnings, Dedham, UK. Image courtesy of The Munnings Art Museum

Munnings Lots 39 & 40

500 Years

83

“

The long-buried past flashed back as clearly as though it were only yesterday (…) When looking at it, the slumbering cells of memory are so stirred that I recall the painting of every passage in it. The calm, grey sky, the grass banks, not a leaf stirring in the fence; the ponies, the lad in the foreground (…) I wonder if the [collector] who owns that humble effort will ever read my story.”

Sir Alfred J. Munnings

84 500 Y

Two Quintessential Works by Sir Alfred J. Munnings

39

SIR ALFRED MUNNINGS (British 1878–1959)

“Irish Ponies in a Grassy Lane” Signed and dated ‘A.J. Munnings/1907’ bottom right, oil on canvas 26 1/8 x 28 3/4 in. (66.4 x 73cm) provenance: Richard Green Ltd. London, United Kingdom.

Private Collection, Pennsylvania. exhibited: “Alfred Munnings from Regional Collections,” Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, June 6-September 1, 2008. note: We wish to thank Ms. Jenny Hand at the Munnings Art Museum in Dehdam, United Kingdom, for her kind assistance in cataloguing this lot. $300,000-500,000

87

500 Years

“George Curzon was the high-sounding name of my new groom at Swainsthorpe.

Never was a master, calling himself an artist, better understood or served.

Winter mornings and afternoons passed as, dressed in scarlet he posed on a horse.”

Shrimp, né Fountain George Page, was a gypsy horse handler aptly nicknamed for his small stature. He was introduced to Munnings by horse dealer James Drake. Though the two men had an often combative relationship, they eventually became friends over their shared love of animals, including ponies. Rapidly, the gypsy would become an indispensable model for the artist, who recalled: “Shrimp was a good lad, a son of the wild. He could neither read nor write, and had no need of either. The best model I ever had” (op. cit., p. 207). Shrimp prominently appeared in a number of Munnings’ compositions from 1908 through 1912. If the sitter in this painting is in fact Shrimp, it is one of the earliest portrayals of the gypsy model as Munnings first met him in September of 1907.

However, and even if the clothes match the exact description of Shrimp’s usual uniform (a tight pair of ‘dealer’ trousers, a pearl-buttoned Georgian waistcoat, a cloth cap, and a bright red neckerchief), the figure appears older and should probably be taken for George Curzon, "the high-sounding name" of Munnings’s groom during his years at Swainsthorpe. Munnings employed Curzon while at Church Farm. The boy posed for a series of paintings, including hunting pictures, and became one of Munnings' favorite subjects, celebrated for his patience and endurance. According to the artist, “Never was a master, calling himself an artist, better understood or served. Winter mornings and afternoons passed as, dressed in scarlet, [George] posed on a horse” (op. cit., p. 195).

S

tarting in 1907, Munnings went on extended painting expeditions from his home in Mendham to the Norfolk region, making his headquarters in Costessey, near Swainsthorpe. As the artist recalls, “Ringland and Costessey, on the west side of Norwich, are situated in one of the loveliest districts of all the pleasant country surrounding that old city. Although only six to eight miles away, with little perceptible variation, their serenity was unbroken, their peace continuous and unalloyed, the inhabitants living on in the same unaltered ways of life, toiling and resting, their quietude as yet undisturbed by motor-horn or sound of tractor” (quoted in A.J. Munnings, An Artist’s Life, 1950, p. 208).

The present work was painted in the Ringland Hills. Dated 1907, it is one of the earliest compositions of the Ringland series, which Munnings continued to explore until 1911.

The Ringland Hills, with their untouched lands and spectacular views towards the distant wooded parklands, had everything that appealed to Munnings. There, in complete harmony with nature, he confessed “Nobody cared and I was at peace” (op. cit., pp. 217-18). His love for the region was not entirely due to the landscape. Munnings knew that horse dealers, gypsies with their ponies and lurchers were all easily found at the fairs and public houses in the area, hence providing him with formidable subjects.

Here, the artist depicts a moment of respite in the hills, where a lad is allowing himself a short break to smoke his pipe, while the horses graze along the path. The scene conveys a sense of stillness, which is most likely due to the languor and fatigue the subjects are feeling. It is also enhanced by the very carefully applied touches of paint on the canvas, which differ from later compositions of 1909-1911, which are more loosely worked. This probably signifies that the present work was most likely considered in advance, and executed in the artist’s studio rather than en plein-air.

The ponies depicted here are known as Irish ponies. Strong animals known for their endurance, they varied in colour, the main type being the skewbald, as depicted in the foreground, with its white and tan colors. Such horses would have been trained to pull gypsy wagons, a theme which was dear to the artist who explored the various regions of England in a cart, along with his beloved gypsy boy, Shrimp.

88

A subtle, golden-brown painting, Irish Ponies on a Grassy Lane contrasts with the bright and sunny pictures that Munnings made in the same spot, including Shrimp on a White Welsh Pony in 1911 and Ponies in a Sandpit, Ringland Hills (both in the Sir Alfred Munnings Art Museum in Dedham, United Kingdom, the latter illustrated in the photograph used for the introductory spread to this catalogue section). As the artist explains in his autobiography, “the summer when I painted this picture in 1907 was not too fine. A glorious September helped me to complete what I had begun,” hence the fall-like golden brow hues in this work. Here, George’s earth-toned clothes blend into the surroundings, making him an integral part of the sun-filled scene.

The warm pinks of his skin are echoed in the sunlit graveled path ahead of us, while the brown highlights on the pony in the foreground complement the tones in the top line of George’s jacket, immersing the figures in the serene setting. Munnings accentuates this idea of intense harmony by implementing a circular reading of the painting, inviting the spectator to look from left to right - from the skewbald in the foreground, to the row of aligned Irish horses in the background (the key to the work’s perspective), coming back to George in the foreground. What also appears striking in this painting is the detail and the sense of care and attention it seems to contain. Stylistically speaking, it is very similar to other examples of Munnings’ work executed between 1900 and 1905, such as The Timber Gill (Munnings Art Museum), making it one of the most achieved compositions of the Ringland series.

Such works greatly impacted the artist, and when contacted later in his career by a London dealer about another “picture of a lad with ponies in a grassy lane,” Munnings vividly recalled his blessed-time in the Ringland Hills: “the long-buried past flashed back as clearly as though it were only yesterday (...)

When looking at it, the slumbering cells of memory are so stirred that I recall the painting of every passage in it. The calm, grey sky, the grass banks, not a leaf stirring in the fence; the ponies, the lad in the foreground (...) I wonder if the [collector] who owns that humble effort will ever read my story” (op. cit., p. 207).

upper left: Sir Alfred J. Munnings, The Timber Gill, oil on canvas, 1902 (The Munnings Art Museum). Copyright sign the Estate of Sir Alfred Munnings, Dedham, UK. Image courtesy of The Munnings Art Museum.

Years 89 500(detail)

Two Quintessential Works by Sir Alfred J. Munnings

40

SIR ALFRED MUNNINGS (British 1878–1959)

“Two of Them” Signed and dated ‘A.J. Munnings/1913’ bottom left, oil on canvas 25 x 30 in. (63.5 x 76.2cm) provenance: Sotheby’s, London, sale of June 7, 1961.

Private Collection, Pennsylvania. exhibited: “Alfred Munnings from Regional Collections,” Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, June 6-September 1, 2008. note: We wish to thank Ms. Jenny Hand at the Munnings Art Museum in Dehdam, United Kingdom, for her kind assistance in cataloguing this lot. $200,000-300,000

90

92

500 Y

“

I was painting these ‘gyppoes’, as I called them, right to the end of the hop-picking. Never in my life have I been so filled with a desire to work as I was then. The families that I got to know had picturesque children, dogs and horses (…)

What days! What models!”

Sir Alfred J. Munnings

(detail) 94

S

ir Alfred Munnings was acclaimed the greatest equestrian artist of the twentieth century, being recognized specifically for his hunting and sporting scenes.Yet, his depictions of gypsies remained a consistent presence throughout his long career, and still today, the artist’s paintings of gypsies and Romany fire camps are considered among the finest and most fascinating of his early years.

The present painting belongs to a series of works depicting gypsy hop-pickers, which Munnings executed near Alton, Hampshire just before the beginning of World War I. Although he had already started to paint gypsy wagons and Romany horse trainers in his country fair paintings as early as 1902, Munnings made his first visit to the Hampshire hop-fields in late August 1913, and stayed there for a period of over six weeks.

Munnings explains in his autobiography that the hop-pickers were Romany families who “mostly travelled up from Bristol and West Dorsetshire, Salisbury Plain and Herefordshire” each fall, to eventually congregate in Hampshire, where they would harvest the large hop fields.

Their colorful wagons and caravans, along with their flamboyant clothing and elaborate above: Sir Alfred J. Munnings, Gypsies and Greyhounds, oil on canvas, 1913 (Private Collection). costumes appealed to Munnings, who painted Image courtesy Bridgeman Images them repeatedly. Children with dark black eyes became his favorite models, and he befriended some of them, even caring for their dogs, goats and ponies (he bought a taller boy, Munnings demonstrates the legendary gypsy camaraderie and treasured dog from the gypsies). As Munnings recalls in his memoirs: ‘’Of all bond, which he respected and admired. The quick brushes on the canvas my painting experiences, none were so alluring and colorful as those visits echo the artist’s excitement to be a part of the group, which he captured at spent amongst the gypsy hop-pickers in Hampshire each September (…) More his most free-spirited moment. As Nicholas Usherwood states: [Munnings’] glamour and excitement were packed into those six weeks than a painter could “delight in the landscape became linked with the life of the landscape, the well contend with (…) I think of crowded days of work - too swiftly gone.” people who inhabited it, and a joy in the most picturesque aspects of that He later continues: “Never in my life have I been so filled with a desire to country life” (quoted in Nicholas Usherwood, Alfred Munnings 1878:1959, an work as I was then. The families that I got to know had picturesque children, exhibition catalogue, 1986, p. 14). Munnings obviously enjoyed painting the dogs and horses. [...] Nobody could beat their style of dress (..) What days! two boys, as they appear again in several other paintings of gypsy hop-pickers What models!” (quoted in A.J. Munnings, An Artist’s Life, 1950, pp. 288-89). in Hampshire, including a 1913 work entitled Gypsies with Greyhounds, which depicts the two brothers, this time with their dogs instead of their horses.

Celebrated as a great colorist, Munnings preferred painting outdoors in natural light even on the coldest days, only later working up his studies in the studio.

Munnings was not the first British artist to live amongst the gypsies. On the The gypsy scenes, of which Munnings is so fond, were not only a fresh subject contrary, this fascination with the gypsy way of life began during the Victorian for the artist, but particularly well suited to his ability to depict sunlight era. Munnings himself was introduced to the subject through Olive Branson, and color. Painting with a quick technique, Munnings applied his paint in another artist and friend who traveled to Binstead in a gilded caravan every sure, thick strokes, achieving a densely textured surface, thus enlivening September to paint the hop-picking activities. Inspired by his friend, Munnings the scene despite the monochromatic palette of the English countryside. gradually immersed himself in gypsy life, purchasing several animals from the camps he visited, and later roaming the countryside with his faithful gypsy The present work features two gypsy boys, presumably the children of Mrs. lad, Shrimp, with paints and canvases in a horse-drawn “long, shallow cart (…)

Loveday, near what appears to be a forest entrance. Just like in his earlier works, with brass-bound harness” (quoted in A.J. Munnings, An Artist’s Life, 1950, Munnings does not portray the gypsies laboring. Instead, they are shown away p. 215). Contrary to his Victorian ancestors who saw the gypsies as a subject from the camp, proudly posing with their horses, which were vital to their way of fear and superstition, Munnings considered them a poignant symbol of of life since they were used for transport and trading. With their elaborate poses, England’s rural life, who resisted industrialization and urbanization. By the figures are reminiscent of classical models and convey a sense of nobility. following such romantic notions, Munnings continued the legacy of painters By choosing to depict the children in this manner, Munnings not only Sir George Clausen (1852-1944) and Henry Herbert la Thangue (1859-1929), who shows a certain empathy towards the figures, but also reconnects with the celebrated the role of gypsies as perpetuators of an authentic and simple life. principles of 18th century portraiture, proving the two gypsy boys are worthy of fine representation. Munnings does not caricature the boys; instead he keeps their authenticity and celebrates their particular way of life. Through the comical expression of the smaller boy, and the grim on the face of the

95

500 Years

41

EDGAR HUNT (British 1876-1953)

Fowl in a Farmyard Signed and dated ‘E. Hunt. 94.’ bottom left, oil on canvas 12 1/8 x 16 1/8 in. (30.8 x 41cm) provenance: Private Collection, Houston, Texas. $5,000-8,000

96

42

GEORGE ARMFIELD (British b.c. 1808–1893)

Terriers in a Stable Signed ‘Armfield’ center left, oil on canvas 8 x 12 in. (20.3 x 30.5cm) provenance: Richard Green Ltd., London, United Kingdom.

Private Collection, Pennsylvania. $2,000-3,000

43

ITALIAN SCHOOL (17th century)

“Two Proud Geese” Oil on canvas 29 7/8 x 39 7/8 in. (75.9 x 101.3cm) provenance: Sotheby’s, New York, sale of January 26, 2012, Lot 252.

Acquired directly from the above sale.

Collection of Richard M. Scaife, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. $3,000-5,000

44

JOHN FREDERICK HERRING THE ELDER (British 1795–1865)

Hen with Chicks Signed and dated ‘J.F. Herring Senr/1853’ upper right, oil on panel 9 3/4 x 12 in. (24.8 x 30.5cm) provenance: Private Collection, Pennsylvania. $3,000-5,000

97

500 Years

98

Lot 6 (detail) 500 Years 99

INDEX ARMFIELD, G.

42

KLAUSNER, R.

26

BLAMPIED, E.

35

KOEKKOEK, W.

9

BROCKHURST, G.

34

MAES, N.

7

CALDERON, C.C.

19

MASTER OF THE EMBROIDERED FOLIAGE

5

CANALETTO (after)

8

MUNNINGS, A.J.

39, 40

CHOULTSÉ, I.F.

30

NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL

6

CLAYS, P.J.

16

PASINI, A.

14

COMERRE, L.F.

17

PISSARRO, P.É.

32

CORRODI, H.

20

REGGIANINI, V.

25

DAUCHIEZ, A.E.

31

RICO Y ORTEGA, M.

18

DE BACKER, J. (circle of)

4

SAFTLEVEN, C.

1

DEL CAMPO, F.

21

SARTORIO, G.A.

10-13

DELORT, C.É.E.

27

SOULACROIX, F.

24

DINSDALE, J.B.

22, 23

STANFIELD, W.C.

15

FANTIN-LATOUR, H.

29

VAN RIJN, R.

2

FIRMIN-GIRARD, M.F.

28

VERBRUGGEN THE YOUNGER, P.C. (circle of)

3

HERRING THE ELDER, J.F.

37, 38, 44

WASHINGTON, G.

36

HOWARD, G.

33

GLOSSARY any statement as to authorship, attribution, origin, date, age, provenance and condition is a state of opinion and is not to be taken as a statement or representation of face. freeman’s reserves that right, in forming their opinion, to consult and rely upon any expert or authority considered by them to be reliable.

names

attributed to

Forename(s) and surname of painter is in our

school of

School accompanied by the name of a place or country

opinion a work by that artist; e.g. Charles Willson

and a date means that we believe the picture was

Peale. When an artist’s forename(s) is not known, a

executed at that time and in that location; e.g. Italian

series of asterisks followed by the surname of the

School, 18th Century. After an artist is in our opinion a

artist, wether preceded by an initial or not, indicates

copy of any date after a work by that artist; e.g. After

that in our opinion the work is by the artist named.

Charles Willson Peale.

Refers to probably a work by the artist; e.g.

after an artist

Attributed to Charles Willson Peale.

Signed and/or dated and/or inscribed means that we believe the signature and/or date and/or inscription are from the hand of the artist. Bears a signature and/

studio of

circle of

Refers to a work from the studio of the artist which

or a date and/or an inscription means that we believe

may or may not have been executed under his

the artist’s name and/or date and/or inscription have

direction; e.g. Studio of Charles Willson Peale.

been added by another hand.

Circle of..... refers to a work of the period of the

signatures & dates

artist executed under his immediate influence; e.g.

All references to signature, inscriptions and dates refer to the present state of the work.

Circle of Charles Willson Peale. measurements follower of

Follower of..... refers to a work by a painter working in the artist’s style, contemporary or nearly contemporary, but not necessarily his pupil; e.g.

Follower of Charles Willson Peale.

manner of

Manner of..... refers to a work in a style related to that of the artist, but of a later date; e.g. Manner of Charles Willson Peale.

100

Dimensions are given height before width.

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR BUYERS Registration All potential buyers must register for the sale prior to placing a bid. Registration information may be submitted in person at our reception desk, by fax or through our website at www.freemansauction.com. We will require proof of identification and residence and may require a credit card and/or a bank reference. By registering for the sale, the buyer acknowledges that he or she has read, understood and accepted Freeman’s Terms and Conditions of Sale.

Buyer’s Premium A Buyer’s Premium will be added to the successful bid price and is payable by the buyer as part of the total purchase price. The Buyer’s Premium shall be: 25% on the first $200,000 of the hammer price of each lot, 20% on the portion from $200,001 through $3,000,000, and 12% thereafter.

Sales Tax All items in the catalogue are subject to the 8% Pennsylvania and Philadelphia sales tax. Dealers purchasing for resale must register their tax numbers on current PA forms.

Forms should be submitted to our Client Services office on the second floor.

Catalogue Descriptions All item descriptions, dimensions and estimates are provided for guidance only. It is the buyer’s responsibility to inspect all lots prior to bidding to ensure that the condition is to their satisfaction. If potential buyers are unable to inspect lots in person, our specialists will be happy to prepare detailed Condition Reports on individual lots as quickly as possible. These are for guidance only, and all lots will be sold “as is” as per our Terms and Conditions of Sale.

Bidding At the sale Registered bidders will be assigned a bidder number and given a paddle for use at the sale. Once the first bid has been placed, the auctioneer asks for higher bids in increments determined by the auctioneer. To place your bid, simply raise your paddle until the auctioneer acknowledges you. The auctioneer will not mistake a random gesture for a bid.

By phone A limited number of telephone lines are available for bidding by phone through a Freeman’s representative. Phone lines must be reserved in advance. Requests must be submitted no later than 24 hours prior to the scheduled start of the sale.

In writing Bid forms are available in the sale room and at the back of the catalogue.

These should be submitted in person, by mail or by fax no later than one hour prior to the scheduled start of the sale. The auctioneer will bid on your behalf up to the limit.

On the internet A fully-illustrated catalogue is available on-line at www.freemansauction.com. Registered bidders may leave absentee bids through the website and will receive email confirmation of their bid. Freeman’s is not responsible for errors or failure to execute bids.

Payment Payment is due within ten (10) working days of the sale. Lots purchased will not be released until we have received full payment. Payment may be made in cash, by check, money order, or debit card. Payments by check must clear the bank before goods will be released.

Removal of Purchases Deliveries will not be made during the time of the sale unless otherwise indicated by the auctioneer. All items must be paid for and removed within ten (10) working days of the sale. Purchases not so removed may be turned over to a licensed warehouse at the expense and risk of the purchaser.

Shipping and Packing Responsibility for packing, shipping and insurance shall be exclusively that of the purchaser. Upon request, Freeman’s will provide the purchaser with names of professional packers and shippers known to us.

Endangered Species Lots marked * are manufactured in whole or in part of restricted materials that may include tortoiseshell, ivory, mother-of-pearl, coral, rhinoceros horn, whalebone or marine ivory. Such materials may require specific licenses, certificates, or CITES documentation for import, export, moving between states in the U.S., or resale.

Obtaining these documents may require scientific, laboratory or other expert analysis, in order to establish which species or genus the material came from. Freeman’s is unable to provide this information, and the obligation is on the purchaser of a lot containing any of these materials to ensure that they are able to obtain all the necessary or required documents should they need to, prior to bidding on the lot.

If proper documentation or licenses etc. cannot be obtained for a purchased lot, the purchaser will still be required to make an on time payment for the lot as per our standard terms and conditions. Freeman’s cataloguing of the lots marked with this symbol * represents the best of our opinion, and the absence of this symbol from any lot description does not form a warranty that the lot will be free from any licensing or certification restrictions.

v5.2018

101 500 Years

TERMS & CONDITIONS All property offered and sold (“property”) through Samuel T. Freeman & Co, (“Freeman’s”) shall be offered and sold on the terms and conditions set forth below which constitutes the complete statement of the terms and conditions on which all property is offered for sale.

By bidding at the auction, whether present in person or by agent, by written bid, telephone, internet or other means, the buyer agrees to be bound by these terms and conditions.

1 Unless otherwise indicated, all Property will be offered by Freeman’s as agent for the Consignor.

2 Freeman’s reserves the right to vary the terms of sale and any such variance shall become part of these Conditions of Sale.

3 Buyer acknowledges that it had the right to make a full inspection of all Property prior to sale to determine the condition, size, repair or restoration of any Property.

Therefore, all property is sold “ASIS”. Freeman’s is acting solely as an auction broker, and unless otherwise stated, does not own the Property offered for sale and has made no independent investigation of the Property. Freeman’s makes no warranty of title, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, or any other warranty or representation regarding the description, genuineness, attribution, provenance or condition to the Property of any kind or nature with respect to the Property.

4 Freeman’s in its sole and exclusive discretion, reserves the right to withdraw any property, at any time, before the fall of the hammer.

5 Unless otherwise announced by the auctioneer at the time of sale, all bids are per lot as numbered in the printed catalogue. Freeman’s reserves the right to determine any and all matters regarding the order, precedence or appropriate increment of bids or the constitution of lots.

6 The highest bidder acknowledged by the auctioneer shall be the buyer.

The auctioneer has the right to reject any bid, to advance the bidding at his absolute discretion and in the event of any dispute between bidders, the auctioneer shall have the sole and final discretion either to determine the successful bidder or to re- offer and resell the article in dispute. If any dispute arises after sale, the Freeman’s sale record shall be conclusive in all respects.

7 If the auctioneer determines that any opening or later bid or any advance bid is not commensurate with the value of the Property offered, he may reject the same and withdraw the Property from sale.

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8 Upon the fall of the hammer, title to any offered lot or article will immediately pass to the highest bidder as determined in the exclusive discretion of the auctioneer, subject to compliance by the buyer with these Conditions of Sale. Buyer thereupon assumes full risk and responsibility of the property sold, agrees to sign any requested confirmation of purchase, and agrees to pay the full price, plus Buyer’s Premium, therefore or such part, upon such terms as Freeman’s may require.

9 No lot may be removed from Freeman’s premises until the buyer has paid in full the purchase price therefor including Buyer’s Premium or has satisfied such terms that Freeman’s, in its sole discretion, shall require. Subject to the foregoing, all Property shall be paid for and removed by the buyer at his/her expense within ten (10) days of sale and, if not so removed, may be sold by Freeman’s, or sent

by Freeman’s to a public warehouse, at the sole risk and charge of the buyer(s), and Freeman’s may prohibit the buyer from participating, directly or indirectly, as a bidder or buyer in any future sale or sales. In addition to other remedies available to Freeman’s by law, Freeman’s reserves the right to impose a late charge of 1.5% per month of the total purchase price on any balance remaining ten (10) days after the day of sale. If Property is not removed by the buyer within ten (10) days, a handling charge of 1% of the total purchase price per month from the tenth day after the sale until removal by the buyer shall be payable to Freeman’s by the buyer; Freeman’s shall charge 1.5% of the total purchase price per month for any property not so removed within 60 days after the sale. Freeman’s will not be responsible for any loss, damage, theft, or otherwise responsible for any goods left in Freeman’s possession after ten (10) days. If the foregoing conditions or any applicable provisions of law are not complied with, in addition to other remedies available to Freeman’s and the Consignor (including without limitation the right to hold the buyer(s) liable for the bid price) Freeman’s, at its option, may either cancel the sale, retaining as liquidated damages all payments made by the buyer(s), or resell the property. In such event, the buyer(s) shall remain liable for any deficiency

in the original purchase price and will also be responsible for all costs, including warehousing, the expense of the ultimate sale, and Freeman’s commission at its regular rates together with all related and incidental charges, including legal fees. Payment is a precondition to removal. Payment shall be by cash, certified check or similar bank draft, or any other method approved by Freeman’s. Checks will not be deemed to constitute payment until cleared. Any exceptions must be made upon Freeman’s written approval of credit prior to sale. In addition, a defaulting buyer will be deemed to have granted and assigned to Freeman’s, a continuing security interest of first priority in any property or money of, or owing to such buyer in Freeman’s possession, and Freeman’s may retain and apply such property or money as collateral security for the obligations due to Freeman’s.

Freeman’s shall have all of the rights accorded a secured party under the Pennsylvania Uniform Commercial Code.

10 Unless the sale is advertised and announced as “without reserve”, each lot is offered subject to a reserve and Freeman’s may implement such reserves by bidding through its representatives on behalf of the Consignors. In certain instances, the Consignor may pay less than the standard commission rate where Freeman’s or its representative is a successful bidder on behalf of the Consignor.

Where the Consignor is indebted to Freeman’s, Freeman’s may have an interest in the offered lots and the proceeds therefrom, other than the broker’s Commissions, and all sales are subject to any such interest.

11 No “buy” bids shall be accepted at any time for any purpose.

12 Any pre-sale bids must be submitted in writing to Freeman’s prior to commencement of the offer of the first lot of any sale. Freeman’s copy of any such bid shall conclusively be deemed to be the sole evidence of same, and while Freeman’s accepts these bids for the convenience of bidders not present at the auction, Freeman’s shall not be responsible for the failure to execute, or, to execute properly, any pre-sale bid.

13 A Buyer’s Premium will be added to the successful bid price and is payable by the buyer as part of the total purchase price. The Buyer’s Premium shall be: 25% on the first $200,000 of the hammer price of each lot, 20% on the portion from $200,001 through $3,000,000, and 12% thereafter.

14 Unless exempted by law from the payment thereof, the buyer will be required to pay any and all federal excise tax and any state and/or local sales taxes, including where deliveries are to be made outside the state where a sale is conducted, which may be subject to a corresponding or compensating tax in another state.

15 Freeman’s may, as a service to buyer, arrange to have purchased property posted and shipped at the buyer’s expense. Freeman’s is not responsible for any acts or omissions in packing or shipping of purchased lots whether or not such carrier is recommended by Freeman’s. Packing and handling of purchased lots is at the responsibility of the buyer and is at the entire risk of the buyer.

16 In no event shall any liability of Freeman’s to the buyer exceed the purchase price actually paid.

17 No claimed modification or amendment of this Agreement on the part of any party shall be deemed extant, enforceable or provable unless it is in writing that has been signed by the parties to this Agreement. No course of dealing and no delay or omission on the part of Freeman’s in exercising any right under this Agreement shall operate as a waiver of such right or any other right and waiver on any one or more occasions shall not be construed as a bar to or waiver of any right or remedy of Freeman’s on any future occasion.

18 These Conditions of Sale and the buyer’s, the Consignor’s and Freeman’s rights under these Conditions of Sale shall be governed by, construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Consignor and Buyer agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

DIRECTORY Officers

Specialist Departments

Representatives

Alasdair Nichol Chairman

20th Century Design Tim Andreadis tandreadis@freemansauction.com

New England Darren Winston dwinston@freemansauction.com

American Art & Pennsylvania Impressionists Alasdair Nichol anichol@freemansauction.com

Mid-Atlantic Matthew Wilcox mwilcox@freemansauction.com

Margaret D. Freeman Director Emeritus Paul S. Roberts President Hanna Dougher Chief Operating Officer Samuel T. Freeman III Senior Vice President

Departments Appraisals Amy Parenti aparenti@freemansauction.com Business Development Thomas B. McCabe IV tmccabe@freemansauction.com Client Services Mary Maguire Carroll mmaguire@freemansauction.com Finance Whitney Long wlong@freemansauction.com Marketing & Communications Micah Dornfeld mdornfeld@freemansauction.com Museum Services Thomas B. McCabe IV tmccabe@freemansauction.com Photography Thomas Clark tclark@freemansauction.com Shipping & Receiving Jake Gravelding jgravelding@freemansauction.com Trust & Estates Amy Parenti aparenti@freemansauction.com

American Furniture, Folk & Decorative Arts Lynda Cain lcain@freemansauction.com Antiquities & Tribal Art Jordan Wang jwang@freemansauction.com Asian Arts Benjamin Farina bfarina@freemansauction.com

Southeast Colin Clarke cclarke@freemansauction.com West Coast Michael Larsen mlarsen@freemansauction.com Main Line Sarah Riley, GG sriley@freemansauction.com

Books, Maps & Manuscripts Darren Winston dwinston@freemansauction.com British & European Furniture & Decorative Arts Tessa Laney tlaney@freemansauction.com European Art & Old Masters David M. Weiss dweiss@freemansauction.com Jewelry & Watches Virginia Salem, GIA GG vsalem@freemansauction.com Modern & Contemporary Art Dunham Townend dtownend@freemansauction.com Musical Instruments Sawyer Thomson sthomson@freemansauction.com Oriental Rugs & Carpets Andrew Taggart ataggart@freemansauction.com Prints Dunham Townend dtownend@freemansauction.com Silver & Objets de Vertu Tessa Laney tlaney@freemansauction.com

103 500 Years

the jeff hunter collection of

antiquities & tribal art

Auction 03.13.19

ROMAN MARBLE TORSO OF THE “SPINARIO” 1st century ad $30,000-50,000

inquiries Jordan Wang | 215.940.9843 jwang@freemansauction.com

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freemansauction.com 1808 Chestnut Street Philadelphia Pennsylvania 19103