Johannes Cornelisz. Verspronck

Anonymous sale, New York, Parke-Bernet, 6 March 1975, lot 42.

New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Style and Substance : Frans Hals in the Metropolitan Museum, Summer 2011. 

R. Ekkart, Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck : leven en werken van een Haarlems portretschilder uit de 17de eeuw, exhibition catalogue, Haarlem 1979, cat. no. 46, reproduced.

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 painting on canvas has a glue lining, which is stabilizing the paint layer. It does seem that the painting is dirty and will clean noticeably. The paint layer is clearly very well preserved. It shows only a few spots of retouch in the ruff, the cheek on the left and the temple on the right. There are a couple of spots on the top edge in the upper right. There are also retouches across the bottom edge, where some old instability has been repaired. The black coat is very healthy. The work can be hung as is, but would also respond to cleaning.
"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."

Verspronck lived and worked in Haarlem as a portrait painter with the greater part of his work executed just after he matriculated into the Guild of Saint Luke in 1632 and 1655. Although little is known about his formal artistic background and training, it is possible that he worked in the studio of Frans Hals. Certainly, this elegant Portrait of a lady owes much to Hals in its rich and varied use of black hues. Along with Hals, Verspronck dominated the portrait market in Haarlem for the vast majority of his career.

Though undated, this impressive canvas recalls various portraits by Versponck from the mid 1640s, both in handling, pose, and dress. In his Portrait of Adriana Croes (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, inv. SK-A-4998) the sitter wears a similarly elaborate cartwheel ruff set into figure of eight pleats. Both this portrait and that of Croes also illustrate Verspronck's popularity among the Haarlem elite, owing to their upper class dress and ornamentation.