Cornelis van der Voort

Joseph and Edith Wasserman, Philadelphia, acquired circa 1925;
Thence by descent to Kathryn Wasserman Davis and Shelby Cullom Davis;
Thence by descent to Shelby MC Davis;
Thence by descent to the present owner.

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 on panel has been cradled. There are joins on either side of the sitter's head. There are visibly discolored retouches throughout the work. In this particular picture, there are retouches and losses in the figure's forehead and left side of his left cheek, which also extend into the left side of the ruff. The paint layer is un-abraded. There are isolated losses in the face, a few other isolated losses and an additional crack in the panel running through the wrist on the right side. Careful and well carried out restoration will be enormously beneficial.
"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."

Both this and the following lot are a beautifully preserved pair of pictures which were almost certainly painted to commemorate the marriage of the unidentified couple. Their poses follow the traditional lines of formal portraiture of the first quarter of the 17th century, the wife to the right of the husband, each turned inwards but looking self-consciously out towards the spectator and holding an unmoving, statuesque pose. In the following generation, formal portraiture would undergo a distinct change, principally due to the influence of Rembrandt and his innovations in the Low Countries, specifically a shift away from formal representations towards a more dynamic and intensely psychological approach to portraiture. This pair is a wonderful and little known example to re-emerge into the public eye. 

Van der Voort was among the most important portrait painters in Amsterdam until his untimely death at the age of 48 in 1624. Only in the past century has his influence on early Dutch portraiture been recognized due to the fact that many of his works had been previously given to contemporaries such as Nicolaes Eliasz. Pickenoy and Thomas de Keyser. A number of successful artists studied under van der Voort in Amsterdam, notably David Bailly, Pieter Luyx and Dirk Harmensz., while van der Voort himself received his training under the Amsterdam painter Cornelis Ketel (1548-1616). 

We are grateful to Sabine Craft-Giepmans of the RKD for endorsing the attribution of this and the following lot to van der Voort, based on photographs.