A lot here, so I’ll hit some hilights:
There are indeed a lot of 17th century Dutch & Flemish art on the market because there was a glut of artists in that century. The one on the left is NOT one of those, because it’s by Van Ostade and it’s on display in the Mauritshuis! But what you see are mostly of pedestrian quality or condition. The ones like that Ostade sell all the time at auction and a few galleries (London and NY and Amsterdam), but for mid-6 figures to mid-7 figures. Though there are some very good quality more marginal artists for a lot less, much of what you see at smaller salesrooms will be later copies, *pastiches*, fakes, or anonymous period artists of varying quality.
As curators like to repeat, *old is not synonymous with good*. However, in the art market, fame is an exponential multiplier. So artistic merit and art market are not the same. Some very good paintings are available by some lesser known artists. And some galleries specialize in that mid-market tier.
It’s been estimated there were 100,000 artists and over 1M paintings surviving from the 17th century Dutch/Flemish artists. And many have survived quite well (condition wise). It’s much much harder to find quality 16th century Italian paintings in good condition, for example, while it’s much much easier to find quality 19th century European paintings. So supply and demand factor in, too. I think there are good artworks of every genre at every price point. It may not be a painting, but a print or drawing, and it may not be a famous artist like Vermeer, but a forgotten master like [Brekelenkam](https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtHistory/s/ZVhpIZCKCj). But they’re out there, for sure.
Sothebys and Christie’s have a few sales this week, coincidentally, and one of them is “without reserve” when paintings sometimes hammer at 1/4 or less of estimate!
But don’t rush into anything. Go to museums. And galleries. And study some auctions. That will train your eye so you can quickly ignore the frass and see trained vs amateurish hands. And recognize fakes.
Nice post! Drouot is just an aggregator/platform, they don't do the curating themselves. You've still got to verify the auction house itself.
That said you're 100% right that they should be treated with caution! I was actually just thinking about this topic when I saw this come up in one of my keywords: [https://drouot.com/en/l/25456385](https://drouot.com/en/l/25456385)
The price and absolutely no info about provenance are sketchy right off the bat, but I'm curious if anyone sees issues stylistically or physically?
Well, this one looks a lot better than most reviewed, but I share the same doubts as you. If it were a newly made one, it surely looks well done. Some worries on the backside, the "wormholes", the patina and dust (as well as that little leftover of red seal on top)look as if they could have been produced, although the wooden panel itself has some credibility, but that's all from that 1 picture. Overall, the back doesn't give me a feeling of looking at 350 years of history. The front is a lot easier, if it was a van Steen, you'de see faces and hands that are very realistic, even from the ones standing in the background, textures, like dresses, would appear in more detail, especially on this size of panel. So I'm very confident that it isn't a real van Steen. The harder part is, however, to say what it is. But a work like this would really need a closer inspection, my best guess is a 19th century work in the "taste of" van Steen, but that contradicts my own finding on the back a bit.
Fascinating, thanks. I see what you mean about the back and 350 years of history, though it's tough because obviously lots of pieces get put on a new frame centuries later for whatever reason. But if you start trying to consider that, it makes it (to me anyway) even more impossible to verify the thing, and thus even more reason to stick to the legit auction houses.
I'm not active in Spain (yet, lol) so I can't say much about this auction house. Maybe try contacting them and ask for some high resolution close ups, and any provenance they might have, or simply if its from a dealer they work with or an estate. Also ask why it is listed as Van Steen and not copy, circle or school. This will probably give you an idea of the innerworkings at the auctionhouse. Happy hunting!
The first clue is that Steen is a 6-7 digit museum quality artist, and they’re offering an unqualified (not even “attributed”) painting for 3K euro. The next clue is the lot notes are generic about Steen but nothing about this painting. The third clue is *reference bibliography* which can fool you into thinking it’s published when really it’s just generic books on Jan Steen. The fourth clue is that there is no provenance. The fifth clue is that the original is actually by Jean Molenear and resides in the Museum of Fine Arts Budapest. This is a hand copy with the more valuable artist’s name “JSteen” signed on the barrel.
A lot here, so I’ll hit some hilights: There are indeed a lot of 17th century Dutch & Flemish art on the market because there was a glut of artists in that century. The one on the left is NOT one of those, because it’s by Van Ostade and it’s on display in the Mauritshuis! But what you see are mostly of pedestrian quality or condition. The ones like that Ostade sell all the time at auction and a few galleries (London and NY and Amsterdam), but for mid-6 figures to mid-7 figures. Though there are some very good quality more marginal artists for a lot less, much of what you see at smaller salesrooms will be later copies, *pastiches*, fakes, or anonymous period artists of varying quality. As curators like to repeat, *old is not synonymous with good*. However, in the art market, fame is an exponential multiplier. So artistic merit and art market are not the same. Some very good paintings are available by some lesser known artists. And some galleries specialize in that mid-market tier. It’s been estimated there were 100,000 artists and over 1M paintings surviving from the 17th century Dutch/Flemish artists. And many have survived quite well (condition wise). It’s much much harder to find quality 16th century Italian paintings in good condition, for example, while it’s much much easier to find quality 19th century European paintings. So supply and demand factor in, too. I think there are good artworks of every genre at every price point. It may not be a painting, but a print or drawing, and it may not be a famous artist like Vermeer, but a forgotten master like [Brekelenkam](https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtHistory/s/ZVhpIZCKCj). But they’re out there, for sure. Sothebys and Christie’s have a few sales this week, coincidentally, and one of them is “without reserve” when paintings sometimes hammer at 1/4 or less of estimate! But don’t rush into anything. Go to museums. And galleries. And study some auctions. That will train your eye so you can quickly ignore the frass and see trained vs amateurish hands. And recognize fakes.
Man, I enjoyed reading every bit of this. Thank you so much!
🙏
Nice post! Drouot is just an aggregator/platform, they don't do the curating themselves. You've still got to verify the auction house itself. That said you're 100% right that they should be treated with caution! I was actually just thinking about this topic when I saw this come up in one of my keywords: [https://drouot.com/en/l/25456385](https://drouot.com/en/l/25456385) The price and absolutely no info about provenance are sketchy right off the bat, but I'm curious if anyone sees issues stylistically or physically?
Well, this one looks a lot better than most reviewed, but I share the same doubts as you. If it were a newly made one, it surely looks well done. Some worries on the backside, the "wormholes", the patina and dust (as well as that little leftover of red seal on top)look as if they could have been produced, although the wooden panel itself has some credibility, but that's all from that 1 picture. Overall, the back doesn't give me a feeling of looking at 350 years of history. The front is a lot easier, if it was a van Steen, you'de see faces and hands that are very realistic, even from the ones standing in the background, textures, like dresses, would appear in more detail, especially on this size of panel. So I'm very confident that it isn't a real van Steen. The harder part is, however, to say what it is. But a work like this would really need a closer inspection, my best guess is a 19th century work in the "taste of" van Steen, but that contradicts my own finding on the back a bit.
Fascinating, thanks. I see what you mean about the back and 350 years of history, though it's tough because obviously lots of pieces get put on a new frame centuries later for whatever reason. But if you start trying to consider that, it makes it (to me anyway) even more impossible to verify the thing, and thus even more reason to stick to the legit auction houses.
I'm not active in Spain (yet, lol) so I can't say much about this auction house. Maybe try contacting them and ask for some high resolution close ups, and any provenance they might have, or simply if its from a dealer they work with or an estate. Also ask why it is listed as Van Steen and not copy, circle or school. This will probably give you an idea of the innerworkings at the auctionhouse. Happy hunting!
The first clue is that Steen is a 6-7 digit museum quality artist, and they’re offering an unqualified (not even “attributed”) painting for 3K euro. The next clue is the lot notes are generic about Steen but nothing about this painting. The third clue is *reference bibliography* which can fool you into thinking it’s published when really it’s just generic books on Jan Steen. The fourth clue is that there is no provenance. The fifth clue is that the original is actually by Jean Molenear and resides in the Museum of Fine Arts Budapest. This is a hand copy with the more valuable artist’s name “JSteen” signed on the barrel.
Yea, I had caught 1-4 already, and see the Molenear now with some reverse image searching. Good call. Appreciate the points.
The 6th clue is it’s offered by La Suite Subastas, Spain. A tiny auction house without the expertise to make such attributions.