It is a Virgin of the Rosary published in 1966 and offered for just 60,000 euros at the event on April 24 and 25
The cover of the catalog for the next event at Abalarte speaks clearly of the room’s intentions. A detail of the panel of the Flemish painter, engraver, draftsman and editor is offered. Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1503-1550), named after the town of Aelst, where he was born. After studying with Bernard van Orley in Brussels, according to Van Mander, around 1525 he had to make a trip to Italy, at the end of which he was already registered in 1527 in the Guild of Painters of Saint Luke in Antwerp, the city where he settled.
For Fransen, “his activities were not limited to running the workshop and executing paintings, but he also made designs for stained glass and tapestries and became interested in architecture. His translations, among others, of works by Vitruvius and Sebastiano Serlio constitute a fundamental reference for the dissemination of the ideas and art of the Renaissance, of which he will be an authentic representative in Flanders. father-in-law of Pieter Brueghel the Elder and uncle of the painter Joachim Beuckelaerhis style, “at first described as Antwerp Mannerist and close to the tradition of Raphael’s last works, evolves towards a language close to that of the Romanists” (see).
From his hand a Virgin of the Rosary with angels carrying the instruments of the Passion (O/T, 108 x 71 cm; lot 1157), which for Georges Marlier – the author of his monograph – must have been the central part of a triptych, probably dismantled at the beginning of the last century, and which would present on one side the donor sailing in one boat and in the other the image of the apostle Santiago. In addition to the figure of the Mother who holds her Son in her arms and looks at him out of the corner of her eye with affection while playing with the world ball with the cross that crowns it, the quality of the drawing, the strength of the colors and an excellent conservation. Around them, the angels carry shields with allusions to the wounds of the Crucified and different instruments such as the column, the spear, the hyssop, etc. Its starting price, 60,000 euros.
In January 2021, Sotheby’s New York put up for auction an excellent triptych with a Nativity, Adoration of the Magi and Presentation in the temple (O/T, 105 x 70 cm), with an estimate of 2.5 to 3.5 million dollars, and which ended up selling for 3,166,000 USD (2,609,528 euros; see). The same room but in London, sold in December 2013 a Rest in the flight to Egypt (O/T, 87.3 x 55.9 cm; see) for GBP 218,500 (263,992), far from the estimate of GBP 60,000 to 80,000. In our country, Segre offered its board in May 2021 with a Capture (O/T, 49 x 39.5 cm), but did not find buyers who would assume the 35,000 euros requested.
Close to that world is the Lamentation (O/T, 126 x 87 cm; 1074), from the circle of Marcus Gheeraerts I, which was offered for 25,000 euros last November (see) and is out again, slightly reduced, for 20,000 euros. Similarly, the Education of the Virgin (O/L, 141 x 117 cm; 169), Francisco Ribalta and with a study by Gómez Frechina, it is offered for 35,000 euros, the same amount that was awarded in October 2019 in Fernando Durán (see), far from the 9,000 at the start.
I also find it interesting -although it is not an easy painting-, the good Portrait of Pedro Franqueza y Esteve, I Count of Villalonga (O/L, 91 x 75 cm; 175), due to the hand of Juan Pantoja de la Cruz. Beyond the figure of the sitter – the right hand of the all-powerful Duke of Lerma -, the specialist María Kusche thinks that it was painted by the artist in 1602, the year in which he entered the Order of Montesa, with whose insignia he had himself portrayed. From the old Casa Torres collection and exhibited in The world that Cervantes lived in the Cultural Center of Villa de Madrid (2005-2006), bidding must begin from 30,000 euros.
The 75,000 euros requested for the canvas will not be easy. Jose del Castillo, Majo smoking next to a seated maja (O/L, 186 x 103 cm; 110), cardboard for the tapestry that decorated the bedroom of Infante Fernando de Borbón in the Palacio del Pardo and that was later woven by the Royal Tapestry Factory when Bayeu was its director. I think that the oil painting by the A Coruña native could be especially interesting for the Royal Academy of San Fernando. Gregorio Ferro, Empress Martha of Constantinople before Alfonso X the Wise (O/L, 126 x 168 cm; 56), since it is the thought test – whose whereabouts are unknown until now – for his triennial competition of 1766, which Ramón Bayeu won, obtaining the second Luis Fernández prize. Departure: 8,000 euros. Let us remember that in June 2008, a set of four canvases by him were sold at Sotheby’s New York, The Navy in 1779signed in 1788, for no less than 110,500 USD (71,527 euros; see).
From the 19th century, do not miss the two works that Genaro Pérez Villaamil signed in 1838. These are two Landscapes with figures (O/L, 45 x 60 cm each; lots 128 and 129), with its typical coastal sunsets, with small characters and animals inserted in the landscape. 4,500 euros for each of them.
In the 20th century, a canvas of Julio Romero de Torres. This is a typical of his hand Lady Portrait, c. 1922/5 (oil and tempera/L, 88 x 99 cm; 36), with the subsequent certificate from Mercedes Valverde, although nothing is provided about the identity of the sitter. With a landscape in the background and roses that appear behind the short wall where the sitter sits, the asking price is 65,000 euros. And, to finish, a good charcoal drawing with touches of pastel. Ramon Casas: Portrait of gentleman with hat (51 x 35 cm; 35), for 4,000 euros. Daniel Diaz @Invertinart
