Auctioneers Bernaerts proudly presents a first masterpiece which will be offered in the Old Masters Sale of December 2019: a signed composition representing ‘The Wise Man and the Fool’ by Jacob Jordaens.
JACOB JORDAENS (1593-1678)
The Wise Man and the Fool. Oil on canvas. Signed 'J Jor'.
95 x 75 cm
180.000-250.000 euro
Expertise Report
The painting shows two characters in a window opening: an old man with glasses carefully examining a book and a jester wearing a fool’s cap and holding a marotte. The latter, broadly grinning and pushing the window open, seems to be calling the viewer closer by. The effect of the trompe l’oeil window as well as the position of the figures, standing so closely near each other, create an intense atmosphere. The drama is further enhanced by the almost caricatural rendering of these characters, so typical of the ripe period of Jordaens.
Thematically the painting belongs to the moralistic oeuvre of the artist with famous works as ‘The Satyr and the Peasant’ and ‘As the Old Sang, So the Young Pipe’. Jordaens seems to want to warn the viewer that he who looks for wisdom in books, will search for a long time, whereas the jester can speak the truth freely in all his foolishness. And so the question arises: who is the real sage and who is the real fool?
Up to this day, no other versions of the present composition are known, although the same characters appear in one of Jordaens’ masterpieces, ‘Diogenes searching for an honest man’ (canvas, circa 1642, 233 x 349 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, Gal.-Nr. 1010) and in some drawings with another moralistic subject, that of ‘Unequal Love’. These drawings also show a wise man and a fool in a window, but in different poses and with different dynamics between them (watercolour and bodycolour, black chalk, 292 x 242 mm, whereabouts unknown, d'Hulst, Jordaens Drawings, nr. A212, ill 227) and C25 (copy after Jordaens, black and red chalk, 232 x 233 mm, Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-Van Beuningen, inv nr. V.20, ill 502, picture A. Frequin Den Haag).
To be noted furthermore is a nearly identical composition executed by Anthonie Leemans (1630/31-1673), a contemporary of Jordaens. Leemans copied the subject almost literally but not without adding a very interesting detail: in his version the fool holds a paper in his hand with a moralistic verse written on it (panel, 83,3 x 59,5 cm, Staatliches Museum Schwerin, inv. nr. 323). This detail confirms the moralistic nature of the message that Jordaens had wished to convey in his original painting.
Stylistically the painting can be dated around 1650, when Jordaens’ palette toned down to blues, greys and browns enlivened with bright flashes of colour like yellow and red. Also typical of the period are the before-mentioned characteristic heads of the portrayed figures. Jordaens’ preferred models were peasants and common folk, who he admired for their power, unaffectedness and joviality.
The importance of the present painting lies in the fact that it captures the essence of Jordaens’ dualities, both as man and artist. On the one hand he is a protestant, who gained his fame and fortune in a Catholic environment thanks to mainly Roman Catholic patrons, on the other hand he was one of the three leading Flemish Baroque masters of his day, although thematically his subjects lean more closely to the typically Dutch genre painting.
We are grateful to prof. dr. Hans Vlieghe and dhr. Brecht Vanoppen from the Rubenianum, Antwerp, for confirming the authenticity of the work. The painting will be sold with a signed certificate of authenticity by prof. dr. Vlieghe and an expertise report.
Provenance:
Early 19th century, collection ridder Jan Karel van Rotterdam, Ghent, Belgium;
His estate sale by Notaries De Porre and Verhulst, July 6, 1835, Ghent , lot 44, where sold to a Mr De Koning;
Late 19th and early 20th century, Old Masters Collection Buxton Family, Bradbourne Hall, Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England;
Mid 20th century, Old Masters collection art dealer H.M. Clark, London, England;
His estate sale, Christie’s London, December 12, 1958, lot 17, as Jacob Jordaens;
Mid-1960’s, with Madison Avenue, New York art gallery Central Pictures Gallery;
By whom sold to the Sacred Arts Center of the Elma M Smith Foundation, Eureka Springs, Arkansas (exhibited there until 1992);
By whom sold to the present owner in Christie’s New York sale, January 18, 1992, lot 122 (on that occasion conservatively as attributed to Jacob Jordaens)
In European private collection since 1992.