Johannes Leemans

The painting is less red in colour and cooler in tone than the illustration suggests. The canvas has quite an old relining which is now a little loose. It was perhaps the relining which caused the paint surface of this signed and dated work to become rather pressed and to lose some of the definition characteristic of the artist. Under the discoloured varnish the dirty paint surface presents some rather clumsy discoloured retouchings. Whether these are necessary or whether they have been applied too liberally is unclear. These are mostly in the background. Other areas of what appears to be poor condition is in the black and brown tones where the paint has become somewhat sunken. Small localised losses can be made out in the central cage and lower centre. Inspection under UV light is unsatisfactory due to the opaque and uneven varnish. The painting would benefit from removal of the present varnish to improve the overall tonality. Offered in a modern wooden painted gold frame with several surface losses.
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