Lot 230
  • 230

Adriaen Jansz. Kraen

Estimate
12,000 - 18,000 GBP
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Description

  • Adriaen Jansz. Kraen
  • Still life with a pie, a half-peeled lemon, bread, hazelnuts, grapes, a glass and an overturned tazza on a table
  • bears traces of monogram on the knife blade: PC
  • oil on panel

Provenance

Reiter Collection, Munich ;
With E. Slatter, London, 1956 (this and the above as Pieter Claesz.);
Sir Patrick Donner, Whitechurch;
Thence by descent.

Exhibited

London, Eugene Slatter, 1956 and 1958, each time no. 4.

Literature

Advertisement in Connoisseur, May 1956.

Condition

The flat, stable support appears to consist of two horizontal panels with an extension of approximately 3cm. along the right hand margin, which seems to have been added prior to the painting's creation. The support has been bevelled along the upper margin and cradled to the reverse. The paint surface is secure and some of the original impasto of the work is well-preserved, particularly in the overturned tazza, the lemon and the bread roll. The pigments used in the background, the grapes and vineleaves and the table and tablecloth have become rather thin and the grain of the wood panel is particularly visible on the surface of the painting in these areas. No major damages to the work are apparent, although the panel join is visible on the surface of the painting and appears to have been formerly restored. Some retouchings are also visible in the upper left hand background and to the margins of the painting, and there is a small old restored damage on the left hand side of the bread roll Inspection under UV light confirms these retouchings and further reveals scattered retouchings throughout the work. Offered in an ornate gilt wood and plaster frame in good condition, with a few minor knocks.
"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

The oeuvre of Adriaen Kraen went for a long time unrecognised, which would explain this painting's previous atttribution to Kraen's older townsman Pieter Claesz., on whose style Kraen based his own.   According to Erika Gemar-Koeltzsch, Vorenkamp was the first to set him apart in 1933, and by 1980 Vroom was able to list 15 works by him.1 The handling of the current work can be compared to a painting listed by Vroom as from a Private Collection in Switzerland, which even features the same half-eaten pie.2

We are grateful to Fred Meijer for confirming the attribution on the basis of photographs.  Drs Meijer recognised Kraen's authorship on the basis of an old photograph ket at the RKD in The Hague many years ago.

1. See E. Gemar-Koeltzsch, Holländische Stillebenmaler im 17. Jahrhundert, Lingen 1995, vol. 2, p. 568.
2. See C. Vroom, A Modest Message as intimated by the painters of the 'Monochrome Banketje',  Schiedam 1980, vol. 1, p. 182, fig. 248, vol. II, p. 87, cat. no. 427.