Old Masters including Portrait Miniatures from the Pohl-Ströher Collection
Old Masters including Portrait Miniatures from the Pohl-Ströher Collection
Property from a Private Collection
FOLLOWER OF SIR PETER PAUL RUBENS, CIRCA 1700 | Portrait of a gentleman, probably Peter van Hecke; and Portrait of a lady, probably his wife, Clara Fourment
Lot Closed
May 7, 01:42 PM GMT
Estimate
26,000 - 30,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from a Private Collection
FOLLOWER OF SIR PETER PAUL RUBENS, CIRCA 1700
PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN, PROBABLY PETER VAN HECKE; AND PORTRAIT OF A LADY, PROBABLY HIS WIFE, CLARA FOURMENT
a pair, both oil on panel
each unframed : 113.5 x 89.5 cm.; 44¾ x 34⅞ in.
each framed: 136.5 x 113 cm.; 53 3/4 x 44 1/2 in.
(2)
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Baron von Grote, Berlin;
With Hackenbroich, Brussels;
Freiherr Max von Goldschmidt-Rothschild (1843-1940), Frankfurt am Main, by 1926 (as Van Dyck);
Forced sale by the above to the city of Frankfurt am Main, 11 November 1938;
Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, Frankfurt am Main, inv. no. SG 879 and 880 (as Van Dyck);
Restituted to the heirs of Max von Goldschmidt-Rothschild and their trustee Hans Brautigam, 1948;
On the Brussels art market, circa 1950;
Where acquired and then anonymously sold, New York, Christie's, 8 June 2011, lot 12, where acquired by the present owner.
O. Götz, Ausstellung von Meisterwerken Alter Malerei aus Privatbestitz, exh. cat., Frankfurt 1926, pp. 20-21, cat. nos 58-59, reproduced pl. LXXI (as Van Dyck, lent by Max von Goldschmidt-Rothschild);
H. Vlieghe, Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard, vol. XIX, Portraits II, London 1987, pp. 116-19, under cat. nos 107-08, reproduced figs 125-26 (as '?Rubens', listed provisionally as copies, since not seen in the original);
P. Sutton and M.E. Wiesemen, The Age of Rubens, exh. cat., Boston 1993, p. 255, under cat. nos 15a-15b, note 13 (as copies).
This pair of portraits repeats the compositions of the original panels by Rubens (dated to circa 1630) that are now in the collection of the Mauritshuis, The Hague.1 The identification of the sitters as Peter van Hecke the Younger (1591-1645) and Clara Fourment (1593-1643), the older sister of Rubens' second wife, Hélène, dates at least to the late 19th century when Max Rooses first published Rubens' prototypes,2 although most likely stems from a much older tradition. The couple were part of Rubens' intimate circle and Rubens was godfather to one of their children. Peter and Clara were born into two of the wealthiest and most powerful families of silk, tapestry and diamond merchants in Antwerp. Peter would successfully continue his family business and Clara herself dealt in the lace trade.
A preparatory black chalk drawing by Rubens for this portrait of Peter van Hecke is in the collection of the British Museum, London.3
2 M. Rooses, L'œuvre de P.P. Rubens, vol. IV, Antwerp 1890, pp. 192-93, cat. no. 966.