Lot 158
  • 158

Jürgen Ovens

Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 GBP
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Description

  • Jürgen Ovens
  • A family portrait, traditionally identified as Colonel John Hutchinson (1615-64) with his wife and children
  • signed and dated centre left: J. OVEN / f. 1659
  • oil on canvas

Provenance

Private collection, USA;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 5 July 1918, lot 84, where sold with a book of memoirs about Colonel Hutchinson of 1806;
With Thomas Agnew & Sons, London;
Mrs Celia Tobin Clarke, San Francisco;
Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 17-18 May 1972, lot 141, to 'Price';
Helen Arden Pierce;
By whose Estate sold, New York, Sotheby's, 17 January 1992, lot 29 for $115,000;
With Konrad Bernheimer, Munich, 1992;
With Salomon Lilian, Amsterdam and Geneva, 1993;
With Konrad Bernheimer, Munich, by whom sold, 30 April 1998, to the present owner for 180,000 Dollars.

Exhibited

San Francisco, California, The Hall of the Legion of Honor, until 1972;
Amsterdam, Salomon Lilian, Old Master Paintings, 1993 - 1994;

Literature

H. Schmidt, Jürgen Ovens: Sein Leben und seine Werke, Kiel 1922, pp. 179-80, cat. no. 223, reproduced fig. 28;
W. Sumowski, Die Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, Landau 1983, vol. III, p. 2236, cat. no. 1547, reproduced p. 2303, vol. VI, under 'Corrigenda und Addenda', p. 3631, III, cat. no. 1547;
W. Sumowski, Drawings of the Rembrandt School, New York 1989, vol. IX, p. 4584, cat. no. 2040, and p. 4696, under cat. no. 2095x;
K. Hecht, Jürgen Ovens (1623-1678) in Amsterdam. Ein norddeutscher Barockmaler unter dem Einfluss Anton van Dycks, doctoral diss., Freiburg-im-Breisgau 1994, pp. 55ff;
C.-Y. Chen, Blumenmotive im Werk von Jürgen Ovens, doctoral diss., Kiel 2000, pp. 27ff.;
C. Köster, Jürgen Ovens (1623-1678). Maler in Schleswig-Holstein und Amsterdam, Petersberg 2017, pp. 144-45, and 386  cat. no. G133, and p. 407, under cat. no. Z58, reproduced in colour p. 145, fig. 143 (as portraying an unknown family).

Condition

The canvas is relined, the paint surface is clean and the varnish is clear and even. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals a small number of minor, sparsely scattered retouchings, and retouching to a diagonal scratch or tear in the mother's skirt lower centre measuring approx. 15 cm. The painting is otherwise untouched and is in overall very good condition. Offered in a carved and gilt wood frame with minor losses.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

The identification of this family with that of Colonel John Hutchinson, MP for Nottinghamshire and a parliamentarian who was one of thirty-nine commissioners to sign the death warrant of King Charles I following the English Civil War, appears to have come about largely because of the painting's sale along with the book of memoirs in 1918 (see Provenance).1 The painting was first linked to a related drawing in the Pretenkabinet der Rijksuniversiteit, Leiden,2 by Werner Sumowski.

1. For a full discussion, see Köster 2017, pp. 144-45.
2. Inv. no. AW108; see Köster 2017, pp. 144-45 and 406-07, cat. no. Z58, reproduced.