A TURINESE COLLECTION, THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE AGUTTES "OLD MASTERS" AUCTION
Italiano
As a preview, the Aguttes auction house is presenting, at the Grand Hotel Sitea in Turin, one of the key works from a Turin collection, which will be auctioned on 28 March 2023 in Paris: a Virgin and Child by Goswin van der Weyden (Antwerp 1455/1465 - c.1538), grandson of Rogier van der Weyden (1399/1400-1464).
The Turinese will also be able to discover a Portrait of Anne-Marie d'Orléans, Duchess of Savoy and Queen of Sardinia by Louis Elle, which was probably once exhibited at Versailles and at the Court of Turin. This portrait, which comes from a private French collection, is unprecedented on the art market.
Two works previewed in Turin, before their sale in Paris
The first, Virgin and Child surrounded by St Catherine of Alexandria and St Margaret of Antioch, comes from a Turin collection. This oil on panel by Goswin van der Weyden (Antwerp 1455/1465 - c.1538) bears the stamp of the Duchess of Parma's collection on the reverse, making it impossible to leave Italian territory. The second, a portrait of Anne-Marie d'Orléans by Louis Elle, known as Ferdinand the Younger (Paris, 1649 - 1717, Rennes), was known only from three later replicas kept in the Racconigi Castle, near Turin. A historical piece, the portrait announces the marriage of Anne-Marie d'Orléans and the Duke of Savoy, but also appears as a remarkable contribution to the Elle Ferdinand corpus.
This exhibition, which will take place in Turin on 13 March from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., will give art lovers and collectors the opportunity to discuss these remarkable works with experts and specialists, including the art historian Jean-Claude Boyer, to whom we owe the attribution of this portrait of Anne-Marie d'Orléans, and Grégoire Lacroix, the expert and director of the Old Paintings and Drawings Department of the Aguttes firm.
Goswin van der WEYDEN (Anvers, 1455/1465 - c. 1538)
Virgin and Child surrounded by St Catherine of Alexandria and St Margaret of Antioch
Oil on panel
72,4 x 64,2 cm
PROVENANCE
On verso, stamp of the collection of Marie-Louise of Austria, Duchess of Parma; Anonymous sale; London, Sotheby's,
9 December 1992, no. 64; London, Christie's, 7 July 2004, no. 18; Turin, Luigi Caretto Gallery; Acquired from this gallery by the present owner.
by the present owner.
BIBLIOGRAPHIE
Andrea Bacchi, A Collector's Choice, 1987, pp. 13-15, n°3,
illustré comme Goswyn van der Weyden.
EXHIBITION
New York, Colnaghi, The Northern Renaissance - 15th
and 16th Century Netherlandish Paintings, 1983, no. 20,
as The Master of Hoogstraeten.
This painting has been notified and may not leave Italian territory.
It will be sold in Paris by appointment and will have to be collected in Turin by its buyer.
Estimate: € 200 000 - 300 000
"The theory of climates explains some of this collector's choices. Each climate allows for a certain type of artistic achievement, and one can observe an evolution between the North and the South. A painting allows us to warm up or cool down visually, and responds to the need to contemplate images from elsewhere..."
Grégoire Lacroix Director of the Old Paintings & Drawings Department
10 works from a Turin collection dispersed in Paris
This Turin collection consists of French, Flemish and Dutch paintings, but does not include any Italian works. From this collection, Aguttes will present a work by Goswin van der Weyden, grandson of Rogier van der Weyden, for sale on 28 March 2023.
Estimated at €200,000 to €300,000, this oil on panel depicts the Virgin and Child surrounded by St Catherine of Alexandria and St Margaret of Antioch. It bears the stamp of the Duchess of Parma's collection on the reverse, preventing it from leaving Italy.
The work will therefore be exhibited before the auction in Turin on 13 March from 11am to 9pm before being sold in Paris by appointment on 28 March 2023.
Detail
Goswin van der WEYDEN (Antwerp, 1455/1465 - c. 1538)
Virgin and Child surrounded by St Catherine of Alexandria and St Margaret of Antioch
Oil on panel
72.4 x 64.2 cm
Previously given to the Hoogstraeten Master, this work was reintegrated into the Goswin van der Weyden corpus by Andrea Bacchi in 1987. An admirer of the art of his grandfather Rogier van der Weyden (1399/1400-1464), Goswin van der Weyden (1455/1465 - c. 1538) followed in his grandfather's footsteps and was probably more interested in perpetuating his manner than in developing his own codes. From his forefather, he retains a certain penchant for monumental figures, to which he gives a sculptural aspect; he attests to a taste for lively, rather sharp graphics, a stylisation, which favours the elegance of slender silhouettes, with slender, long limbs like the delicate fingers of his figures. Only the faces, slightly oval, make a concession of some roundness, but their long, thin noses no longer allow us to see the gentle curves more characteristic of the first part of the 15th century.
Goswin borrows the central figure, surrounded here by two intercessory saints, from Hans Memling (1430-1494), a student of Rogier van der Weyden. Memling had proposed this configuration in several of his compositions, including those in the National Gallery in London and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Alongside his grandfather's legacy, we can see here those of Jan van Eyck (c. 1390-1441) and Robert Campin (c. 1375-1444). Almost a century earlier, the two masters had brought Flemish painting into a new modernity with the development of oil painting.
The former, considered by some of his biographers as the "inventor" of the technique, pushed the mastery of this particularly fluid material to the limit. By superimposing the coloured layers, he succeeded in making the light really "pass" through, and gave a particularly fine, porcelain-like appearance to the final work. Goswin also superimposed glazes of different colours and enriched the effects of transparency: the fabrics are declined in precious shades, the play of shadows gives monumentality to the whole, while the diaphanous flesh marvels at its finesse. This was the basis of Goswin's apprenticeship, for whose generation it was now almost self-evident to work in this way. Between the effects of materials and light, the concern for a certain realism and the idealisation of sacred figures, Goswin van der Weyden perpetuates the art that has been passed on to him and makes himself its advocate.
A portrait of Anne-Marie d'Orléans, Duchess of Savoy and Queen of Sardinia, probably exhibited at Versailles and at the Court of Turin
Presented for auction by Aguttes on 28 March 2023, this portrait, which was undoubtedly commissioned by one of the most eminent members of the French nobility, Philippe d'Orléans, Monsieur, brother of Louis XIV, and father of "Mademoiselle de Valois", this Portrait of Anne-Marie d'Orléans, Duchess of Savoy and Queen of Sardinia, testifies to the immense esteem that the aristocracy held for the art of Louis Elle, known as Ferdinand le Jeune (Paris, 1649 - 1717, Rennes), son of Louis Elle, known as Ferdinand l'Ainé or the Father (Paris 1612 -1689), a founding member of the Académie Royale de peinture et de sculpture.
Louis ELLE, known as Ferdinand le Jeune (Paris, 1649 - 1717, Rennes)
Portrait of Anne-Marie d'Orléans, Duchess of Savoy and Queen of Sardinia, 1684
Oil on canvas (oval)
127 x 74 cm
PROVENANCE
Probably from the collection of the ducal house of Savoy-Piedmont; France, private collection.
According to a letter in the Turin archives sent on 17 February 1684, a portrait of the young woman by "Ferdinand", i.e. Louis Elle, known as Ferdinand the Younger (Paris, 1649 - 1717, Rennes), was to be sent to Louis XIV's brother.
As an official presentation of Anne-Marie d'Orléans, the painting was probably exhibited at Versailles and then at the court in Turin. The son of one of the most famous portraitists of his time and of Paris, who was himself eminently recognised, Louis Elle, known as Ferdinand le Jeune (Paris, 1649 - 1717, Rennes) produced this portrait, which would be the image through which the future Duke of Savoy discovered the features of his bride.
With an unusual format, the artist offers a solemn and pure presentation, which differs from his usual production. A lover of mythological stories, he chose the goddess Flora, the incarnation of spring and fertility, to represent his future wife.
This portrait, of which there are only three replicas, all of them later and preserved in the castle of Racconigi, residence of the Dukes of Savoy-Piedmont, as well as an engraving made in Rome in 1692, constitutes a remarkable contribution to the corpus of the Elle and, above all, one of the most captivating portraits of the end of the seventeenth century, which helped to seal one of the most prestigious unions of the European nobility.
The attribution of the portrait was found by Jean-Claude Boyer, art historian, on the occasion of an international symposium, entitled "The power of the Savoye. Regality and Sovereignty in a Composite Monarchy" (Turin, at the Venaria Reale, between 28 and 31 May 2017). He will also be present at the exhibition of the work in Turin.
Detail
Louis ELLE, known as Ferdinand le Jeune (Paris, 1649 - 1717, Rennes)
Portrait of Anne-Marie d'Orléans, Duchess of Savoy and Queen of Sardinia, 1684
Oil on canvas (oval)
127 x 74 cm
OLD MASTERS
Auction
Tuesday 28 March 2023 at 3pm
Drouot Paris
PREVIEW PRESENTATION
AND EXPERTISE DAY
GRAND HOTEL SITEA
VIA CARLO ALBERTO 35 l Turin
undi 13 mars 2023 : 11h - 21h
Hôtel Drouot
9, rue Drouot - 75009 Paris
Room 6
Public exhibition at Drouot Paris
Saturday 25 March 2023 : 11am - 6pm
Monday 27 March 2023 : 11am - 6pm
Tuesday 28 March 2023 : 11am - 1pm
Head of Antique Paintings & Drawings Department
Grégoire Lacroix
+33 1 47 45 08 19 • lacroix@aguttes.com