Eglon Hendrik van der Neer

Probably sale E. van Dishoek, The Hague, 9 June 1745;
Probably sale Jacques de Roore, The Hague, 4 September 1747, to Ietswaart;
Legrand collection, Donnemarie-en-Montois, Seine-et-Marne, France, before 1930;
With Gebr. Douwes, Amsterdam, 1930;
With A. Brod, London, 1971 (advertised in Apollo, 116, February 1971);
Colonel Parker, Lancashire (according to a label on the reverse of the frame); 
Property of Lady Joseph, sale, London, Christie's, 9 July 1999, lot 22;
There purchased by the present owner. 

E. Schavemaker, Eglon van der Neer (1635/36-1703): his life and his work, Doornspijk 2010, p. 453, cat. no. 8, reproduced in color, plate IV (as location unknown).

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work could be hung as is, but it may be slightly dirty and the restoration could also be re-examined. The oak panel has a cradle which is nicely supporting the panel and paint layer. Under ultraviolet light, one can see retouches to thinness in the floor, a few spots in the red rug in the lower right, two areas of retouching in the woman's golden dress, one retouching in the shadowed area of her hip on the right and another above her feet. Some strengthening has been applied to the chair on the right. No retouches are clearly visible in the background, but the varnish here is slightly milky when viewed under ultraviolet light. In raking light, one can see an uneven patch of about 3 inches square to the surface above the head of the female figure, and it is possible that older retouches in this area may become more apparent if the work were cleaned.
"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."

Eglon van der Neer started his career painting refined à la mode scenes in his native Amsterdam in the late 1650s. Inspired by Pieter de Hooch’s and Ter Borch’s innovative interiors - both artists Van der Neer no doubt knew personally - he forged a style entirely his own, integrating the sophisticated novelties found in their works. The present colorful panel of around 1660 is an early work and beautifully exemplifies this approach. Van der Neer shows an attractive Ter Borchian young woman in shimmering silks, playing the lute and striking a graceful pose against the backdrop of a wall covered with precious embossed gold-leather, a motif used in exactly the same way by De Hooch in these years. A dandy-like cavalier enjoys the music and a pipe; a glass of beer stands ready to quench his thirst. The costly Persian rug draped over the table and the marble Italian floor add to the atmosphere of luxury.

The rich and alluring world that Van der Neer painted was the one in which his clients lived: high society and aristocracy. Just a few years before he painted our panel Van der Neer had served three years as a court painter to Count Dohna, the governor of the small Princedom of Orange. Having been appointed in 1687 as court painter to the Spanish king Carlos II, he entered the service of the mighty Elector Palatine Johann Wilhelm in 1697. In the elapsing time Van der Neer had created images for discriminating elite collectors in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and beyond the country’s borders that were the pinnacle of taste. Van der Neer’s success and fame continued into the nineteenth century: in 1833 the influential art dealer John Smith included his works in the fifth volume of his Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters.

-Eddy Schavemaker