Lot 128
  • 128

Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem

Estimate
60,000 - 80,000 GBP
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Description

  • Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem
  • A fool with two women
  • signed in monogram and dated lower left: CH.f. Aº .1595
  • oil on canvas, laid onto panel

Provenance

Presumably W. van Velthuysen;
His sale, Rotterdam, 15 April 1751, lot 48, 'Een Spanjaardt mettwee Juffers' ('A Spaniard with two young ladies');
With H. Schöne, Berlin, Charlottenburg, 1953;
With Gemäldegalerie H. and G. Abels, Köln, 1954.

Literature

P. J. J. van Thiel, Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem, Doornspijk 1999, pp. 115, 173, 379–380, cat. no. 222, reproduced plate 117.

Condition

The canvas has been marouflaged onto a panel. The process has somewhat flattened the paint surface. The picture has recently been cleaned and restored and is in good, stable condition. The canvas was originally folded or cut horizontally 20 cm from the upper edge. There are retouchings throughout and a number of sizable repairs, the most significant of which being to the face of the lady on the left, a horizontal 16 cm tear over the sausage, and in much of the lower sleeve of the jester. This lot is offered unframed.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Van Thiel lists and reproduces two copies, both of whose whereabouts are unknown (op. cit., figs. 118, 119). Both these copies, like the present picture until a recent cleaning, have had the sausage painted out, presumably due to its overtly lewd connotations. In the first of the copies the sausage was turned into a cornucopia and in the second was painted out altogether and an owl added on the central figure's raised hand. Van Thiel suggests that the large numbers of copies of this and other secular works from the 1590s attests to their popularity at the time.  

During the 1590s van Haarlem produced a number of paintings based around compositions comprised of three half-length figures. Numerous versions of his allegorical paintings on the choice between young and old illustrate his interest in exploring the dynamic between a trio of figures.