Property from a Swedish Private Collection
Dutch School, mid-17th century
A man with a violin, flanked by a woman and a man in a turban, with a fourth figure in the background
Live auction begins on:
July 2, 10:00 AM GMT
Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 GBP
Bid
14,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from a Swedish Private Collection
Dutch School, mid-17th century
A man with a violin, flanked by a woman and a man in a turban, with a fourth figure in the background
oil on canvas
unframed: 74 x 56.5 cm.; 29⅛ x 22¼ in.
framed: 76.5 x 94.5 cm.; 30⅛ x 37¼ in.
With Art Collectors’ Association Ltd., London, by 1920 (according to a mount at the Witt library);
Private collection, Uppsala (as Gerrit van Honthorst);
Whence sold, Uppsala, Uppsala Auktionskammare, 9 May 1999, lot 24 (as unknown Dutch master, mid-17th century);
Where acquired.
This enigmatic painting was once attributed to the Utrecht painter, Gerard van Honthorst (1592–1656). The direct gazes of the figures, the subtle plays of light across the figural group, and the sensitivity of the handling point to an accomplished artist working within the Dutch tradition of the mid-seventeenth century; however, their identity has yet to be uncovered.
The painting has prompted scholarly discussion among experts, with opinions divided between Haarlem, Utrecht, and Bamboccianti circles. The central figure recalls the work of the Flemish itinerant painter, Michael Sweerts (1618–1664), but the smoothness of the modelling and the cool tonality of the overall composition are closer to a number of a number of painters active in Haarlem in the mid-17th century – perhaps most closely, Caesar van Everdingen (1616–1678). Paintings by Wallerant Vaillant (1623–1677), originally from France, are also comparable in their softly-modelled faces and handling of light. Despite these various proposals, no firm attribution has yet been reached.
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