3 December
Live auction
Winter Tales
from Metsys to Pistoletto
(results)
An overview of the first session (Old and Modern Masters) with hammer prices excl. commissie.
Antique art
A kitchen tableau signed in full by Frans Ykens and dated 1649 with hidden erotic undertones was one of the highlights of the auction. The imposing canvas (167 x 235 cm) was still exhibited in 1987 in Ghent (MSK), was given an estimate of €50-60,000 (lot 6) and closed at double that amount (res.: €110000).
That Old Masters remain ‘en vogue’ was also evident from the results for a ‘Dutch two-master and smaller English ship off rocky coast’ by Aert Anthonisz (lot 4, res.: €7000), a ‘Growling dog in pantry’ from the studio of Frans Snijders (lot 7, res. : € 7500), an Italian floral garland from around 1650 (lot 8, res.:€ 6000), an octagonal rocaille cartouche with floral garland around the tower of Belém in Lisbon dating from the same period (lot 9, res.: € 11000) or finally for a family portrait attributable to Arnoldus Boonen (1669 – 1729) (lot 11, res.: € 40000).
An anonymous panel, from the vicinity of Barend Van Orley, depicting the Madonna and Child (lot 2, res.: € 30000) matched perfectly with a fine sample of small 16th-century sculpture. The ‘Standing Virgin and Child’ of c. 1510-1540 (lot 26), entirely Malines-made (both the carving and polychroming were done in the city of the Maneblussers) and mounted – perhaps a connoisseur’s fantasy – on a pedestal surrounded by four alabaster slices, carved in … Malines, was once prominently on display at the Van Herck residence. The ‘ Malines doll’ leaned heavily towards a specimen from London’s V&A Museum and changed hands for €16000.
From the same collection also came a Christ with the Crown of Thorns in walnut, carved c. 1520-1530 in the Meuse region (or Germany). The statue (h.: 50 cm) was estimated between €8-10,000 (lot 27) but did not sell.
19de & 20ste eeuw
A canvas of interest to Antwerp iconography from 1864 by Ferdinand de Braekeleer the Elder appeared as lot 30. In the 19th century (1864-1865), the Kipdorp gate and the ‘Spanish’ city walls were demolished to make way for the Antwerp boulevard. De Braekeleer’s snapshot shows busy activity on the bridge and nearby (lumberjacks, porters, curious onlookers). The canvas, in which De Braekeleer ingeniously applied a ‘raccourci’, tripled its estimate to go to a major Antwerp collector at €34000.
An 1888 dated canvas, ‘Sunday on the South Terrace’, by Louis Van Engelen (lot 181) fetched € 10000 in turn.
Other hammer prizes: sculptures by Jef Lambeaux (lot 160, res.: € 4000) and Gambi (lot 73, res.: € 11000), ‘plaisirs d’hiver’ by Cornelis Verburgh (lot 28, res.: € 10000), or another bottle-shaped vase late Ming period (lot 99, res.: € 10000).
Modernity made its appearance in this session at the end of the 19th century with a marine by the acclaimed James Ensor (lot 188, res: €56000), from the Antwerp doctor Van der Stricht. From the same collection, a ‘River landscape at dusk’, a small canvas by Emile Claus was hammered off at €8000 (lot 193). From the same master who is also in the spotlight this year (Deinze, Mudel), we also presented a ravishing little panel from c. 1890, titled ‘In Vlaenderen’, which was also allocated well past the estimate (lot 192, res: €42000). Other hammer prices: Floris Jespers (lots 206 and 213, respectively €17000 and €20000), Rik Poot (lot 239, res.: €8000), Valerius De Saedeleer (lot 190, res.: €8000), Georges Morren (lot 155, res.: €7800), Demeter Chiparus (lot 149, res.: €7600), Roger Raveel (lot 253, res.: €7500), Jacques Charlier (lot 254, res.: €6500).
A magnificent silkscreen on mirror plate by Michelangelo Pistoletto (lot 221), entitled ‘Attesa No. 8’, became the proverbial icing on the cake of this winter auction. This unique ‘serigrafia’ from 1962-73 where ‘the future is already contained in the constant mobility of images, in the ever-renewed present of reflection’ (quote M.Pistoletto, 1988), charmed many a collector of work by the still living and relevant artist. The screenprint on polished stainless steel (225 x 125 cm) was finally sold at €220000 after a battle between five telephone bidders.
