Johannes Cornelisz. Verspronck

Colterman and van Valkenburg families;
Anonymous sale, De Vries and Roos, Amsterdam, 17 December 1850, lot 121;
Mullins, Salisbury, circa 1840;
J.R. Eyre;
F.H. Hussey, Cheltenham;
With Douwes, Amsterdam, until 1931;
J.W. Nienhuys, Bloemendaal-Aerdenhout;
Mrs. A.M. Nienhuys-Versteegh, Aerdenhout;
Willem M.J. Russell, Amsterdam;
From whom acquired in circa 1980-81 by the present collector.

Rotterdam, Museum Boymans, Tentoonstelling van oude en moderne schilderijen, teekeningen en mozaïken in Nederlandsche verzamelingen, December 1934 - January 1935, no. 22;
Brussels, Exposition universelle et international, Cinq siècles d'art, 24 May - 13 October 1935, no. 786;
Haarlem, Frans Halsmuseum, Oude Kunst, June - August 1936, no. 49;
Rotterdam, Museum Boymans, Meesterwerken uit vier eeuwen, 1400-1800, 25 June - 15 October 1938, no. 158;
Rotterdam, Museum Boymans, Kunstschatten uit Nederlandse verzamelingen, 19 June - 25 September 1955, no. 132;
Amsterdam, Amsterdams Historisch Museum, 17e- eeuwse schilderijen uit de verzameling Willem Russell, 20 June - 13 September 1970, no. 92;
Haarlem, Frans Halsmuseum, Johannes Cornelisz. Verspronck, Leven en werken van een Haarlems portretschilder uit de 17-de eeuw, 15 September - 25 November 1979, no. 84.

A. Steehman, "De oude kunst op de Brusselsche tentoonstelling," in Maandblad voor Beeldende Kunsten, no. 12, 1935, p. 312;
D. Hannema and A. van Schendel, Noord-en-Zuid-Nederlandsche schilderkunst der XVIIe eeuw, Amsterdam and Berlin 1936, p. 30, cat. no. 48, reproduced plate 48;
E. Plietzsch, Holländische und flämische Maler des XVII. Jahrh., Leipzig 1960, p. 169;
I. Bergström, "The Russell Collection in Amsterdam," in Apollo, vol. 96, no. 125, July 1972, p. 44, reproduced p. 45, fig. 13;
R.E.O. Ekkart, Johannes Cornelisz. Verspronck, Leven en werken van een Haarlems portretschilder uit de 17-de eeuw, exhibition catalogue, Haarlem 1979, pp. 52, 114, cat. no. 84, reproduced p. 192.

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 is nicely restored and could be hung its current condition. Careful and accurate retouches address numerous small paint losses throughout the work. These retouches are clearly visible under ultraviolet light. While the condition is very uneven, the restoration certainly presents the picture very well.
"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."

Johannes Verspronck was probably trained by his father, the painter Cornelis Engelsz., and is thought to have later been apprenticed to Frans Hals. In 1632 he joined the Guild of St. Luke in Haarlem.  Apart from a single known still life painting and a few genre works, Verspronck’s artistic output was concentrated on painting portraits of his fellow Haarlem citizens.  Two of his most ambitious works are the large group portraits, the Governesses of the St. Elisabeth Hospital (1641) and the Governesses of the Orphanage (1642), both in the Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem.  After circa 1650, Verspronck usually portrayed his single subjects seated as in this charming portrait of the young Margaretha Dicx which is dated 1651.¹ Verspronck’s skill at depicting detail is evident here in his exquisite rendering of the lace cuffs, collar, and jewelry.

Margaretha Dicx (1634-1697) was the daughter of Cornelis Dicx and Maria Hainck. On 10 February 1654 she married Gerard Colterman (1632-1670), son of the Haarlem burgomaster Johan Colterman and his wife Anna Schoonhoven.  Verspronck’s work was clearly favored by the two families, as he also painted portraits of Margaretha’s father, father-in-law and mother-in-law, whom he painted twice (in 1641 and 1645).

1. See R.E.O. Ekkart, in The Dictionary of Art, London 1996, vol. 36, p. 376.