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De Wit Fine Tapestries
After David Teniers II The Fish Quay–Return of Fishermen Brussels, 1725-1750 Wool and silk 264 x 390 cm Celebrated for their lively depictions of rural life, sets of tapestries inspired by the famous peasant scenes of David Teniers II (1610–1690) formed some of the most popular tapestry series in late 17th- and early 18th-centuries. Their extraordinary appeal is reflected in the sheer number of workshops that produced them. In Brussels alone, seven ateliers wove this distinctly Flemish genre, while so-called Teniers tapestries were also produced in other European centres such as Amsterdam, Aubusson, Beauvais, Lille, London, Madrid, and Oudenaarde. Owing to this widespread production and the enduring commercial success of the genre, attributing individual designs can often be challenging. The present example, however, belongs to a distinguished series that laid the foundation for the genre and was designed by David Teniers II himself. Description The tapestry depicts a bustling quay where fishermen unload and sort their catch. On the left, a boat carrying five men arrives, still hauling in its nets, while one fisherman on the bow hands a line to a man standing at the end of the quay. In the foreground, a fisherman empties a barrel of fish and shellfish, while three men nearby appear to be negotiating. Further along the quay, another sorts his catch, two men converse, and a man leans casually on a donkey. Behind them, a figure with his back turned adds a touch of unvarnished realism. In the background, a bay stretches out, framed by a wooded coast to the left and a fortified structure to the right, complete with patrolling figures and a tall, three-tiered tower. Through the central passageway, two additional boats are visible. One hauling in its nets, the other lowering its mast. Attribution The Fish Quay was executed in the Brussels workshop of Hieronymus Le Clerc (1643-1722) or that of his associate Gaspar van der Borcht (1675-1742). Several editions of the scene are known, some bearing the signature of one of these associated tapissiers: Le Clerc or Van der Borcht’s Latinized form, A Castro. A now-lost edition formerly in Dresden bore Van der Borcht’s signature along with an extensive inscription identifying David Teniers II – the court painter to Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (1614-1662) and Don John Joseph of Austria (1629-1679), governors of the Southern Netherlands from 1648 to 1656 and 1656 to 1658 respectively – as the designer. Teniers is also cited as the designer in a 1701 archival document recording that Le Clerc and Van der Borcht sold a six-part edition of the series, including a tapestry described as “un port de mer, où l’on pesche le poisson” (a seaport, where fish are caught). Dating the collaborative production of this particular example is difficult. The earliest known editions of the series were likely produced in the 1680s, with production continuing until Le Clerc’s death in 1722. The Fish Quay lacks the usual outer border, suggesting it was intended for mounting on wainscoting.
Artimo Fine Arts
the fortuna
Alfred Boucher (Nogent-sur-Seine 1850-1934 Aix-les-Bains) La Fortune, circa 1905 White marble, base in peach blossom marble and gilt bronze H 93 cm (total height) H 8.5 x W 55 x D 34 cm (base) Provenance: private collection, France Literature: Jacques Piette, Alfred Boucher, l’oeuvre sculpté, Paris, 2014, p. 260, cat. A63 Listed in the artist’s catalogue raisonné but held in a private French collection until now, this marble sculpture depicts an allegorical composition of Fortuna, the mythological figure embodying fate and the wheel of fortune. The work portrays a nude young woman seated on a stylised chariot drawn by a winged cherub. The contrast between the woman’s serenity and the movement driven by the child evokes the unpredictable shifts of destiny — a central theme in European allegorical iconography since the Renaissance. The treatment of the marble reveals Boucher's virtuosity: the suppleness of the skin, the tension of the lines, the drapery undulating like a wave, and the luminous softness characteristic of perfectly polished white marble. A celebrated sculptor during his lifetime, Alfred Boucher studied under Paul Dubois and Augustin Dumont at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His career took a decisive turn when he won the Grand Prix for Sculpture at the 1900 Exposition Universelle, marking the beginning of his most productive period. La Fortune or Allegory of the Wheel belongs to this decade (1900–1910), a time when the artist, at the height of his fame, alternated between official commissions and personal creations often inspired by mythological or symbolist themes.
Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art
max ernst
Max Ernst (Brühl 1891-1976 Paris) Un Caprice de Neptune, 1959 Oil on canvas 27 x 35 cm Signed lower right 'max ernst' Provenance: Paolo Marinotti; Lawrence Rubin Greenberg Van Doren Fine Art, New York; private collection, Germany Literature: W. Spies, S. and G. Metgen: Max Ernst. Oeuvre-Katalog, Werke 1954-1963, Cologne, 1998, p. 194, n° 3425 (ill.) Exhibitions: 1961, June-July, Paris, Max Ernst sculptés, Galerie au Pont des Art Weill; 1966, 17 June-2 October, Venice, Max Ernst, Oltre la pittura, Palazzo Grassi, cat. n° 7 (ill.); 1979, Munich, Max Ernst, Retrospektiv, Haus der Kunst, cat. n° 296, ill. III (colour ill. n° 30, ill. 331)
Samuel Vanhoegaerden Gallery
Bram Bogart (Delft 1921-2012 Sint Truiden) Topgroen, August 1963 Mixed media on canvas laid on wooden panel 161 x 201 cm Signed, dated and titled on reverse Provenance: private collection, London In August 1963, Bram Bogart created a powerful and iconic work: Topgroen (August 1963). The painting – executed with homemade paint on a board/canvas made by the artist himself – measures approximately 161 x 201 cm and testifies to Bogart's radically innovative approach to matter and colour. The work Topgroen is at the heart of Bogart's most highly regarded period, in which he experimented with imposing layers of paint, sculptural reliefs and a colour palette that transcends the surface and becomes almost tangible. In this work, he combines powerful fields of colour with monumental texture: an intense red surface is directly framed by thick, almost architecturally shaped green and yellow accents. The paint is hardly imagination anymore, but matter – as if the paint itself is the object. Topgroen marks a turning point in Bogart's oeuvre: colour and volume become one, the painting resists classical painting through an enormous physical presence of the matter. The work invites tactile viewing: the depth of the paint layers, the shadow effects between reliefs, and the tension between surface and volume make it a masterpiece of material painting. Bogart thus confirms his pioneering role in European post-war abstraction.
Grusenmeyer-Woliner
Hariti, the Buddhist protectress of children Ancient region of Gandhara, Swat Valley, 3rd-4th century AD Grey schist stone H 125 cm Provenance: European private collection, before 1990 (by reputation); an important private collection, Japan, by 1990 Literature: I. Kurita. Gandharan Art, vol. II, Tokyo, 1990, p. 169, fig. 493; M. Akira. Gandharan Art and Bamiyan Site, Tokyo, 2006, p. 114, n° 86 Hariti, the Buddhist protectress of children Imbued with an aura of maternal guardianship, Hariti was originally a yakshi who devoured children to sustain her own large family. Converted by the Buddha into their protector, she is depicted in Graeco-Buddhist art of the ancient Gandhara region surrounded by children. Perhaps the most prominent female deity in Gandhara, Hariti embodies fertility, wealth, and maternal care. She assumes a commanding stance, offering protection to mothers and infants. Draped in a clinging tunic that reveals a robust, fecund body, she is accompanied by children at her feet and shoulders, while a fifth child once hung from her left breast, of which only fragments remain. Her distinctive headdress represents the fortified walls of a city, a motif also associated with Tyche/Fortuna, the Greco-Roman guardian of cities, thereby reflecting the syncretism of Buddhist and Greco-Roman iconography. A wealth-bestowing goddess, she is richly adorned with jewellery - a necklace, collar, substantial earrings, and a pair of coiled serpentine armlets, a favoured motif in Graeco-style ornamentation. The present large-scale figure is exceptionally rare in private hands and was published in the seminal Japanese study on Gandhara art, widely known within collectors’ circles as the Kurita, which adds significantly to its prestige and desirability.
Art et Patrimoine - Laurence Lenne
Reliquary 'in the form of a sarcophagus with a hinged roof' Limoges, mid-13th century Gilt copper plates, champlevé enamels H 11.8 x W 27.5 x D 9.5 cm Literature: Inventaire général des monuments et des richesses artistiques de la France. Emaux limousins du Moyen Age. Correze/Creuse/Haute-Vienne, under the direction of Paul-Édouard Robinne, Éditions de l’Inventaire, Images du Patrimoine, 1995; Emaux de Limoges XIIè-XIXè siècle, under the direction of Jacques Toussaint, Museum of Ancient Arts of Namur, 1996; Valérie & Thomas Becket, De l'influence des princes Plantagenêt dans l'Oeuvre de Limoges, Municipal Museum of the Bishop’s Palace-Museum of Enamel, Limoges, 1999 A reliquary, without a wooden core, taking the shape of a sarcophagus with a hinged roof. It is made of gilt copper plates and decorated with champlevé enamels depicting sixteen half-length angels emerging from clouds against a white enamel background. The decoration consists of two superimposed registers of three engraved gilt angels set within round medallions. The medallions stand out against a blue enamel ground adorned with gilded Gothic foliage and interlace patterns. This reliquary belongs to a series of standardised reliquaries known from the Limousin region, all dating from the 13th century. Its dimensions make it one of the largest examples of this 'sarcophagus with movable roof' type. It is closely related to the exceptional large reliquary of Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche, classified as part of the Treasure of the French Historic Monuments.
Art et Patrimoine - Laurence Lenne
Potpourri vase in polychrome porcelain Tournai porcelain, second period, 1763-1775 H 36.5 cm Rare potpourri vase in soft-paste, polychrome Tournai porcelain. At its base, it depicts a gallant offering grapes to his lady Provenance: former du Bois de Roest collection Literature: a similar piece is published in Lucien Delplace, Considérations sur les porcelaines de Tournai, p. 25, plate 3; and in Soil de Moriamé & Delplace, La Manufacture Impériale et Royale de Porcelaine de Tournay, 1937, p. 341, n° 645, plate 79
Galerie AB - Agnès Aittouarès
Sam Francis (California, 1923-1994) SF63-046, 1963 Acrylic on paper 90 x 63 cm Signed, dated and located Los Angeles on reverse Listed in the online catalogue raisonné of the artist under n° SF63-046 Provenance: Jean Fournier collection; private collection, Paris Exhibition: Paris, Galerie Jean Fournier, Sam Francis de 1947 à 1988 sur papier, October-November 1988
De Wit Fine Tapestries
victor vasarely
Victor Vasarely (Hungary 1906-1997 Paris) WA-4, circa 1970 Wool 156 x 156 cm Signed lower right corner Aubusson, atelier Pinton (Monogram lower left corner) Edition 1/6 The WA-4 tapestry consists of a large square divided into four squares, on top of which a fifth square is placed, itself divided into four squares. The inside of each of these squares is filled with rhombuses whose colour change from dark blue to purple and then to light beige. These rhombi are arranged on backgrounds of varying colours, ranging from charcoal grey to purple and pink, then from aqua green to pale pink and dark green. The different colour areas are clearly distinct from one another when viewed up close on the tapestry's very fine fabric. But when you step back and view the tapestry from a distance, the planes and shapes seem to interact with each other, and the colours appear to move. The optical effects are particularly striking here. Our gaze is captured by the illusion of movement created by the brain. Vasarely experimented with this fascinating relationship between vision and perception in his paintings, which he then transposed into various media, including glass, ceramics, metal, goldsmithing and tapestry. Vasarely relied on science, because he believed it was the only common language available to humanity. He developed a pictorial system based on the logic of algorithms and binary codes, a square background, coloured and filled with simple geometric shapes. A champion of geometric abstraction, he is best known as the inventor of op-kinetic art (the adjective kinetic derives from the Greek word κίνησις (kinesis), meaning “movement”). Op art or optical art was revealed to the general public by the sensational exhibition ‘Le Mouvement’ (1955), which Vasarely initiated at the Denise René gallery in Paris. In this exhibition he brought together younger artists such as Bury, Jacobsen, Soto and Tinguely alongside the leading figures of Marcel Duchamp and Alexander Calder. Alongside his work as a painter, Vasarely devoted a significant portion of his activity to transposing his art into other media. He promoted the reproduction of his works as tapestries, as he saw this as an opportunity for recreation, in contrast to the concept of a unique work. He envisioned a concept of art for all, based on a new aesthetic, leading to ‘the polychrome city of happiness’. He thought of his tapestries as prototypes, hand-woven in limited numbers and displayed in the comfortable homes of art lovers. He painted around a hundred tapestry cartoons, woven in various workshops. Furthermore, he played a pioneering role by inviting other artists to try their hand at this art form, including Léger, Jean Arp, Agam, Atlan, Dewasne and Josef Albers. This textile experimentation was the result of Vasarely's encounter with François Tabard, an Aubusson tapestry entrepreneur, and Denise René, an avant-garde gallery owner. According to the artist, kinetic art, often described as cold, is compatible with tapestry insofar as it results from a "technique that allows for flat areas to retain warmth. There is none of the monotony of flat areas applied with a brush to a surface." With Tabard, Vasarely developed a systematic method of creating cartoons, allowing infinite chromatic combinations to be obtained. Denise René was the publisher of these tapestries (1952-1970). From 1966 onwards, the national tapestry manufacturers of the Gobelins and Beauvais wove Vasarely's designs. Shortly afterwards, another industrialist from Aubusson, Olivier Pinton, began weaving Vasarely's designs. More than thirty cartoons were finely woven, including WA-4, created around 1970.
Gilden's Art Gallery
pablo picasso
Pablo Picasso (Malaga 1881-1973 Mougins) Le bain de pieds, 1960 Brush and India ink drawing on wove paper 20.9 x 26.9 cm This ink drawing is dated 26.1.60.II in ink in the upper image. Picasso created this work on Tuesday 26 January 1960 Provenance: Forum Fine Art, Zurich; private collection, Switzerland; Christie's, London, 10 February 2005, lot 685 Literature: C. Zervos (1968), Pablo Picasso - Œuvres de 1959 à 1961, Paris, vol. 19, reference n° 137 (ill., pl. 32)
Grusenmeyer-Woliner
Portrait of a young boy Antonine Period, circa the end of the 2nd century Marble H 21 cm Provenance: Roger Peyrefitte (1907-2000) collection, Paris; sale of Roger Peyrefitte collection, Hôtel George V, Paris, 26 May 1977, lot n° 12; Art Market, 1978; Antiquities and Islamic Art, Sotheby’s, New York, 14 December 1993, lot n° 94; Dr. Anton Pestalozzi (1915-2007), Zurich, acquired from the previous owner; thence by descent Literature: Auction catalogue, Roger Peyrefitte Collection, Hôtel George V, Paris, May 26th, 1977, lot n° 12; Auction catalogue, Antiquities and Islamic Art, Sotheby’s, New York, December 14th, 1993, lot n° 94; I. Jucker, Skulpturen der Antiken-Sammlung Ennetwies, Mainz on the Rhine, 1995, Vol. 1, pp. 41-42, n° 24, pls. 49-50; K. Fittschen, Prinzenbildnisse Antoninischer Zeit, Mainz on the Rhine, 1999, p. 93, cat. n° 97
Almine Rech
tom wesselmann
Tom Wesselmann (USA, Ohio 1931-2004 New York) 'Smoker Study (For Smoker #11)', 1972 Oil on canvas 29.2 x 29.2 cm 46.4 x 46.4 x 3.8 cm (framed) Examined by the WPI's Wesselmann committee on 13 December 2023, for inclusion in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné Provenance: estate of the artist Courtesy of the Estate of Tom Wesselmann and Almine Rech / Photo: Thomas Barratt Smoker Study (For Smoker #11), 1972 belongs to Tom Wesselmann’s Smoker series, which the artist began in 1967. Born out of a desire to isolate and further investigate the representation of lips and the act of smoking, the Smoker series also found its origin in advertising, and stands as testament to the major role Wesselmann occupied in the birth and development of the Pop aesthetic. Today, Wesselmann’s Smoker paintings are among his most renowned works. The series began with Smoker, 1 (Mouth, 12), 1967, which is now held in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Wesselmann found photography to be a useful medium to capture his models in poses he would later translate to larger scale works. On one occasion, his friend Peggy Sarno lit a cigarette during a modeling session. Wesselmann took some photographs of her as she inhaled, still posing in a reclined position. This moment inspired the Smoker series, which is characterised by the presence of vivid red lips juxtaposed with curling white smoke. Smoker Study (For Smoker #11) is both bold and intimate, capturing a single moment of pleasure in a complex and ambitious composition indicative of the artist’s experimentation with subject, form, and color. In mid-century America, cigarette advertisements were incredibly elaborate, among the most sophisticated forms of marketing. As well as standing as an example of Wesselmann’s fascination with popular culture and the female body, Smoker Study (For Smoker #11) also demonstrates the artist’s mastery of oil paint, attention to detail, and sophisticated compositional style. In the 1960s, Wesselmann had been developing his Great American Nudes series when he was inspired to focus on specific details of female figures. In an almost fetishistic act, he started isolating elements of the female figure, creating smaller preparatory pieces as well as larger scale works depicting hands, breasts, and lips. Out of this approach his Mouth paintings and Smoker Series, works such as Smoker Study (For Smoker #11) were born. Tom Wesselmann (1931–2004) was one of the leading American Pop artists of the mid-20th Century. Departing from Abstract Expressionism, he explored classical representations of the nude, still life, and landscape, while incorporating everyday objects and advertising ephemera. Wesselmann was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on February 23, 1931. He attended Hiram College in Ohio from 1949 to 1951 before entering the University of Cincinnati. In 1953, his studies were interrupted by a two-year enlistment in the army, during which time he began drawing cartoons. He returned to the university in 1954 and received a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1956. During this time, he decided to pursue a career in cartooning and enrolled at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. After graduation he moved to New York City, where he was accepted into the Cooper Union and where his focus shifted dramatically to fine art.
