Joost van Geel Rotterdam 1631 - 1698

Gustaf Adolf Sparre (1746-1794);
Sparre inv., 1794, no. 19.

Kristianstad, 1977, no. 20, as Dutch School, 17th Century, probably by Van Geel..

Granberg, 1885-6, no. 37;
Göthe, 1895, p. 18, no. 27, as Dutch School, 17th Century, formerly attributed to Ochtervelt;
Granberg, 1911-12, p. 69, no. 312;
C. Hofstede de Groot, in F. Thieme, U. Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler, vol. XIII, Leipzig 1920, p. 323;
H. Miles, Dutch and Flemish ... Paintings (catalogue of the Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow 1961, vol. 1, p. 59, under no. 1365;
Hasselgren, 1974, pp. 114-5, 120, reproduced p. 175.

"The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has a very old lining and stretcher, and slightly accentuated craquelure, particularly at the lower centre where there is a little wear with a few tiny chipped corners of flakes. The original narrow stretcher bar lines are still visible. The edges have occasional small knocks and some other little flakes are lost at the lower left edge and to the left of the base edge, where the craquelure is fragile. There is also some wear in the background at upper left, with a small scrape in the top left corner. The man's knee is a little thin as is the blue of the woman's jacket, her hand and her skirt slightly in places. Her chin is also rather thin, and pentiments around her head and hair can just be seen, however much of her face has beautifully fresh vivid brushwork that is well preserved. The man's head is in good condition, with the figure behind slightly sunk, while the curtain and fireplace to the right are superbly intact, as is the carpet over the table and many other details. This report was not done under laboratory conditions."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Van Geel, son of a brandy distiller in Schiedam, was a vinegar merchant and poet as well as a painter of portraits and genre pieces such as the present work.  Houbraken noted in his work the evident influence of Gabriel Metsu, and although there is no documentary evidence to support it, he is generally assumed to have been Metsu's pupil.  The present work certainly clearly betrays Metsu's influence, but also that of Ter Borch, who influenced both artists.  Whether or not Van Geel was a formal pupil of Metsu, who was only two years his senior, it is clear that Metsu's influence on him is palpable long after one might expect him to have completed an apprenticeship.  The Sparre picture, undated like all his known works, reflects Metsu's paintings of the 1660s, when both artists were into their thirties.

Only a handful of genre pictures are known of Van Geel.¹  His most famous work is the Nursery Visit in Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen.  Another picture of the present subject, but of different composition, is the Card Players in an Interior in Glasgow, Art Museum and Gallery.²

The lavish interior depicted here may be a high-class brothel, and the young woman showing her hand of cards to her opponent while pointing with her hand suggests a demand for money.  The mood of the picture is one of muted comical suggestiveness.

This picture was once attributed to Ochtervelt.  It was Granberg was the first to suggest an attribution to Van Geel in 1912, and Horst Gerson who confirmed it.³

1.  F.W. Robinson, in Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667),  New York 1974, p. 68, lists "four or five known paintings".
2.  See H. Miles under Literature, vol. 1, pp. 58-9, no. 1365., reproduced vol. 2, p. 47.
3.  See under Literature.  Gerson is cited by Hasslegren, and in the catalogue of the Kristianstad exhibition.