Paintings, drawings, sculptures 14th - 19th c. - Peasant Wedding Feast and Vanitas Still Life

The total result of the three auctions of Old Masters, Decorative Arts and Jewellery from last weekend brought a very pleasing € 8.6 million euro. Decorative Arts was a success once again, and the Jewellery auction was one of our house’s best.

The highlight of the auction, the fantastic and important painting by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo was knocked down under provision for € 950,000. This was followed by significant six-figure paintings from Jan Miense Molenaer (€ 350,000), Ettore Simonetti (€ 250,000), a South Netherlands master(Brussels?) from around 1520 (€ 212,000), Jan van Goyen(€ 163,000), from Hendrick Martensz Sorgh (€ 150,000) and Johannes Goedaert (€ 88,000). Success was also seen for Edwaert Colliers (€ 125,000), Joos van Winghe (€ 113,000) and an Italian Caravaggist with € 156.000.

Bartolomé Esteba Murillo’sThe Virgin of the Rosary is an important master work of Spanish baroque painting with a prominent provenance. It hung for several generations in Windlestone Hall, the Eden ancestral home, where the English Prime Minister Anthony Eden would also have seen it. The painting is thus accordingly still called the Eden Madonna today. It has now been sold under provision for € 950,000 and promising negotiations are currently being conducted (lot 2077, € 1-1.5 million).

One of the many important paintings in the auction was Jan Miense Molenaer’s high qualityPeasant Wedding Feast. The complex painting is full of moral allusions and warnings and the entire scene can be understood as a depiction of licentiousness. A private collection pursued the work from € 200/250,000 up to € 350,000 (lot 2071), and also acquired the Mass of Saint Gregory by a South Netherlands master (Brussels) from around 1520 for € 212,000. This densely populated and colourful depiction shows one of the most fascinating religious themes of the late Middle Ages: the miracle of the Mass of Pope Gregory the Great (lot 2003, € 120/150,000). The sale of this lot as well as the commission will be donated to the humanitarian assistance in Ukraine.

Ettore Simonetti belongs to a large Roman family of artisans and artists of the second half of the 19th century. Although Ettore apparently never travelled to the north of Africa, he loved to paint bazaar scenes with the typical traders and hagglers of the Orient together with their exotic clothing and the objects that were sold in this region. The very decorative oriental scene reached € 250,000 (lot 2396, € 200/250,000).

A very detailed river landscape with Village and Ships by Jan van Goyen rose to € 163,000 (lot 2050, € 120/130,000) whilst two further paintings by him sold for € 69,000 and € 60,000. The Merry Peasants by Hendrick Maertensz Sorgh is a characteristic work of the Dutch genre painter, and this painting can be counted amongst the most beautiful interior scenes. It has also been interpreted as a representation of the Five Senses. It sold for € 150,000 (lot 2072, € 80/120,000).

A great climb was had by Portrait of a Philosopher by an Italian Caravaggist of the early 17th century. This impressive picture, which depicts a debating, middle-aged man enumerating arguments, is probably the portrait of a philosopher, although it is not clear which philosopher is meant, as there are no attributes to identify him. A hefty bidding war broke out over the painting and was eventually decided by an American collector with a stake of € 156,000 (lot 2022, € 25/30,000). A significant jump was also seen for Joos van Winghe’sAllegory of Fama which was pushed from € 70/80,000 up to € 113,000 (lot 2019), but even greater was that of Edwaert Collier’s desired Vanitas Still Life with Nautilus Chalice and Bust. Painted in oil on wood, the 30 x 24.5 cm picture was finally acquired by a Dutch collection for € 125,000 (lot 2096, € 8/12,000). A further significant success found the painting Saint Jerome in the Desert by an Antwerp Master of the 16th century which started at € 8/10,000 and was sold for € 63,000. Also in oil on wood, the broad landscape is in the tradition of the Antwerp painters Joachim Patinier and Herri met de Bles (lot 2005). Both these paintings were confiscated by the GDR authorities in 1953 and only returned to their rightful owners a few weeks ago by the Museum of Fine Arts in Leipzig.

Tommaso di Credi’sThe Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist moved to an Italian collection for € 94,000. Active in around 1490/1510 in Florence, the painter specialised in the production of tondi and other paintings for private devotion, of which this painting is a high-quality example (lot 2003A, € 70/80,000). Johannes Goedaert’s excellence as a landscape painter is demonstrated in the painting Landscape with a Farmer and Herd of Cows at a Cottage, the whereabouts of which was unknown for a long time. His pictures are in the tradition of Dutch landscapes. The English trade acquired the work for € 88,000 (lot 2070, € 70/90,000). Philips Wouwerman’s canvas Battle Between Cavalry and Infantry does not depict actual historical events or persons, as is usual in his depictions of skirmishes and battles, but belongs to the field of decorative battle painting. Painted in around 1665, the painting was won by a Dutch collector for € 81,000 (lot 2078, € 60/70,000).

Auction Dates

Auction 1197 - Old Masters

Fine Art
Saturday 21. 05. 2022, 11:00 am
Lot 2000 - 2205
Auction 1197
Auction
Cologne
Saturday, May 21
11 am

We kindly ask you to place your bids online, by phone or as absentee bids. Online bids at least 48 hours before the auction. We also cordially invite you to a virtual preview at www.lempertz.com.

The auction will be streamed live at www.lempertz.com.
Preview
Cologne, Neumarkt 3
Saturday, May 14, 10 am – 4 pm
Sunday, May 15, 11 am – 4 pm
Monday, May 16 – Friday, May 20,
10 am – 5.30 pm

Brussels (a selection), 6 rue du Grand Cerf
Wednesday, April 27 – Friday, April 29,
9 am – 5.30 pm

Munich (a selection), St.-Anna-Platz 3
Wednesday, May 4 – Thursday, May 5, 10 am – 5 pm
Catalogue
PDF-Catalogue

Auction 1197 - 19th century

Fine Art
Saturday 21. 05. 2022, 02:30 pm
Lot 2300 - 2421
Auction 1197
Auction
Cologne
Saturday, May 21
2:30 pm

We kindly ask you to place your bids online, by phone or as absentee bids. Online bids at least 48 hours before the auction. We also cordially invite you to a virtual preview at www.lempertz.com.

The auction will be streamed live at www.lempertz.com.
Preview
Cologne, Neumarkt 3
Saturday, May 14, 10 am – 4 pm
Sunday, May 15, 11 am – 4 pm
Monday, May 16 – Friday, May 20,
10 am – 5.30 pm

Brussels (a selection), 6 rue du Grand Cerf
Wednesday, April 27 – Friday, April 29,
9 am – 5.30 pm

Munich (a selection), St.-Anna-Platz 3
Wednesday, May 4 – Thursday, May 5, 10 am – 5 pm
Catalogue
PDF-Catalogue

Auction 1197 - Old Masters and 19th century, Part II

Fine Art
Saturday 21. 05. 2022, 04:00 pm
Lot 2500 - 2667
Auction 1197
Auction
Cologne
Saturday, May 21
4:00 pm

We kindly ask you to place your bids online, by phone or as absentee bids. Online bids at least 48 hours before the auction. We also cordially invite you to a virtual preview at www.lempertz.com.
Preview
Cologne, Neumarkt 3
Saturday, May 14, 10 am – 4 pm
Sunday, May 15, 11 am – 4 pm
Monday, May 16 – Friday, May 20,
10 am – 5.30 pm
Catalogue
PDF-Catalogue

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, May 2022