Lot 686
  • 686

Dirck van Baburen

Estimate
35,000 - 45,000 USD
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Description

  • Dirck van Baburen
  • Narcissus gazing at his reflection
  • oil on canvas
  • 37 1/2 by 45 1/2 in.; 95.2 by 115.5 cm.

Provenance

Private collection, New York;
Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 12 January 1989, lot 63;
Where purchased by Dr. Hilary Koprowski.  

Literature

L.J. Slatkes in Dopo Caravaggio: Bartolomeo Manfredi e la Manfrediana Methodus, exhibition catalogue, Cremona 1987, p. 100, under cat. no. 16 (as circa 1623);
B. Nicolson, Caravaggism in Europe, 2nd edition, revised and enlarged by L. Vertova, Turin 1989, vol. I, p. 53;
M.G. Aurigemma, "Gherardo, Enrico, Teodoro ed altri simili," in Lasino iconoclasta.  Seicento olanadese; proposte di lettura, problemi di metodo e di interpretazione, Rome 1993, p. 48;
D.P. Weller, Sinners & Saints:  Darkness and Light:  Caravaggio and His Dutch and Flemish Followers, exhibition catalogue, Raleigh, North Carolina, 1998, p. 162, note 5, under cat. no. 28;
E. Bénézit, Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres..., 4th edition, Paris 1999, vol. I, p. 599;
P. Schoon and S. Parlberg, Greek Gods and Heroes in the Age of Rubens and Rembrandt, exhibition catalogue, Athens and Dordrecht 2000-2001, p. 242;
S. Macioe, "Caravaggio and the Role of Classical Models," in The Rediscovery of Antiquity; The Role of the Artist, Copenhagen 2003, p. 440;
E. Bénézit, Dictionary of Artists, Paris 2006, vol. I, p. 915;
L.J. Slatkes and W. Franits, The Paintings of Hendrick ter Brugghen 1588-1629, Amsterdam and Philadelphia 2007, p. 250, under cat. no. R55;
W. Franits, The Paintings of Dirck van Baburen, ca. 1592/93-1624.  Catalogue Raisonné, Amsterdam and Philadelphia 2013, pp. 115-116, cat. A19, reproduced pl. 19.

Condition

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 has been restored and could be hung in its current state, although some of the restorations and fillings could be adjusted slightly. On the reverse, one can see a Mylar lining applied with wax, which shows what is presumably the reverse of the original canvas. The work is stretched onto a mechanical stretcher. Although the surface is stable and the canvas well stretched, the lining is unattractive and wax is not the best choice of an adhesive. The paint layer is clean, varnished and retouched. It seems that this lining has produced quite a flat surface. In the white robe beneath the chin of the figure, there appear to be some effects of slight heat damage. There is retouching here to eliminate these pock marks. The original canvas may have been folded at some point in its history, and numerous vertical lines of cracking and paint loss are evident throughout the work. There are about eight of these vertical lines of paint loss. There are other isolated losses here and there throughout the composition. The condition is fair and the lining unattractive, but the restoration has been enthusiastic. It is recommended that the stretcher be changed and some of the retouches and varnish on the surface be adjusted; the results would be an improvement.
"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."

Catalogue Note

The present work is datable to circa 1621-1622, shortly after Baburen's return from Italy, and marks his new interest in subjects taken from classical antiquity and mythology.  While the story of Narcissus appeared in prints and books in the Netherlands in the early 17th century, it was rarely treated in paintings.  Baburen may have been inspired by the Narcissus, now in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Palazzo Corsini, Rome, attributed by some scholars to Caravaggio, which also shows a large-scale figure in a minimalistic setting.1

1.  See R. Vodret, Caravaggio:  The Complete Works, Milan 2010, pp. 78-79, cat. no. 16, for a discussion of the attribution and a reproduction of the picture in Rome.