Quiringh Gerritsz. van Brekelenkam

Estimate

15,000 - 20,000 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

Quiringh Gerritsz. van Brekelenkam
A woman talking with her maid in a kitchen interior with a child, a dog and a fire
signed with initials and dated lower centre on the barrel: Q. B. 1660
oil on oak panel

Provenance

Possibly J.G. Cramer, Amsterdam;
His sale, Amsterdam, Cok, 13 November 1769, lot 15;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 8 April 1981, lot 136;
Private collection, Belgium;
With Gebr. Douwes, Amsterdam.

Literature

A. Lasius, Quiringh van Brekelenkam, Doornspijk 1992, p. 153, cat. no. B28, with incorrect provenance (as uncertain attribution and present location unknown; see revised opinion below).

Catalogue Note

Dated 1660, this painting could be said to mark Brekelenkam's departure from the influence of the Leiden fijnschilders, his possible master Gerrit Dou, and the humble genre scenes he prolifically painted in the 1640s and '50s. The sophisticated and well-dressed lady to the left of the painting, who is presumably the lady of the house, rather punctures the modesty of the kitchen setting, paving the way for Brekelenkam's penchant for high-life genre scenes during the 1660s.

Dr. Angelika Lasius, who had not seen this painting in photographs or in the original at the time of her monograph in 1992, included it as of uncertain attribution. Since then, Dr. Lasius has seen a transparency of the painting and in a letter (dated 29 January 2005) accepts it as a fully autograph work by Brekelenkam. In her catalogue on Brekelenkam, Lasius suggests that this painting was also part of a sale at Lempertz, Cologne on 14/15 November 1892, lot 20, yet this was in fact a copy. It is unclear as to whether it was this copy or the present work, or indeed a third unknown version of the composition, which was sold at the J.G. Cramer sale in 1769 (see Provenance).