Fine Art - Glimpse of Venus

Amongst the noteworthy works from Italy are a gold ground panel by Giovanni da Bologna, active in Venice in around 1370/80, with an important provenance, and an estimate of € 370/450,000 (lot 2015).

Also of particular importance is a “Reclining Venus” by the Venetian Giacomo Palma il Vecchio. The impressive large format painting in the tradition of Giorgione and Titian, once owned by J. Paul Getty, is valued at € 600/800,000 (lot 2019).

Beautiful works from Italy also include a Caravaggio-influenced painting of a boy at a well, painted in Rome in around 1620 by Giovanni Serodine – an artist who has only been studied in detail more recently (lot 2031, € 60/80,000). A hundred years late in Naples, Corrado Giaquinto painted a wonderful Madonna and Child, which came to Cologne from an Italian collection (lot 2079, € 80/90,000).

A “Mystic Marriage with Saint John the Baptist and Angels” by the Master of the Stockholm Pietà has been valued at € 240/280,000 (lot 2020), whilst the Dutch painter Gerard David, a master from the 15th/16th century, is present with a “Lamentation of Christ” for € 100/120,000 (lot 2002). A Cologne Master painted a noteworthy “Adoration of the Magi” on wood in around 1450 (lot 2001, € 80/100,000), which has the same estimate as a painting on wood of a “River Landscape” by the artist Jan van Goyen (lot 2041). Equally outstanding is a splendid canvas depicting a “Shepherd and Shepherdess with a Basket of Fruit (Allegory of Fertility)” by Jan van Noordt, with a low estimate of € 30/40,000 (lot 2061).

Amongst the Dutch Masters are works by the landscape painter Josse de Momper (lot 2033, € 30/40,000), as well as a figural picture by Michael Sweerts, an artist rarely seen on the market (lot 2055, € 60/80,000), and a fantastic still life by Jan Brueghel – a collaborative work by father and son Jan Brueghel (lot 2034, € 180/220,000). A second, particularly finely worked flower still life, this time painted solely by the younger Jan on copper, has an estimate of € 70/90,000 (lot 2090).

The section of 19th century paintings is also internationally decorated with painters from Italy, Russia and Germany. Here three works by the Ventian Giovanno Grubacs stand out in particular because of the current situation: nocturnal scenes on the day of the Rendetore Festival (lots 2161/62 – see accompanying special press release). Further works are from the South German architecture painter Michael Neher (“Donauwörth”, lot 2151, €40/50,000), the Viennese artist Franz Xaver Petter (two flower pictures, lots 2143/44, each € 25/30,000), as well as from his slightly younger countryman Alexander Rothaug (lots 2176/2177).

The Russian painting is represented by, amongst others, “Holiday”, a colourful painting by Fedot Sychkov (lot 2181, € 70/80,000).

With a total of 76 lots, the sculptures are presented in a separate catalogue in two sections, the first of which features 17 lots from an important South German collection of Renaissance and Baroque art.

The following are of particular interest: “Corpus Christi” by Giovanni Angelo del Maino from around 1495 (wood, height 145 cm, lot 203, € 30/40,00), and a 94 cm high terracotta “Hercules”, attributed to Tommasa della Porta the Younger in around 1590, and valued at € 25/30,000 (lot 2207).

The second section features 59 lots with various provenances, including many small works from the Middle Ages in bronze, copper, enamel and ivory.

Shining out amongst the Late Gothic sculptures is a Burgundian limestone “Saint Cecilia” from the first half of the 15th century (lot 2236, € 18/20,000). Also significant is a boxwood relief with a “Flagellation of Christ” by Christoph Daniel Schwenk from 1680 (lot 2267, 8/10,000).

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at 0221/92 57 29–30.

Edgar Abs Press and public relations Cologne, June 2021