London’s July sales

4/7/23 - Art market - London- Unlike last December’s particularly poor sales (see news item of 6/12/22), the London auctions at the beginning of July were of a very high standard, with a number of major works that amply justified the trip. The most beautiful painting (ill. 1), coming from France, is the subject of much discussion, both to emphasise its importance and to express amusement or indignation, as the case may be, at what appears at best to be a slight on the part of the Louvre painting department, which granted it its export certificate in the space of a few days, clearly unaware of the importance of this unpublished painting by Michael Sweerts, or not at all interested in it.

1. Michael Sweerts (1618-1664)
The Artist’s Studio with a Seamstress
Oil on canvas - 79,5 x 108,4 cm
Christie’s London Sale, 6 July 2023
Photo: Christie’s

See the image in its page

This studio scene, of which the Louvre has no equivalent - if Sweerts is not absent from this museum, it only keeps a - very pretty and very small - genre scene showing a young man and a matchmaker, and a tavern painting [1]. This one, of much higher quality, shows an artist’s studio, with a woman sewing on the left, a still life in the foreground and, in the background, a view of a landscape. The painting has been left "in its original state" and is quite dirty - it is obvious that careful restoration will restore it to its former glory. Unquestionably, this painting deserved to enter French public collections, and this would undoubtedly have been facilitated by negotiations with the owner, who was quite willing to sell to museums. But it is true that the Louvre’s Dutch and Flemish collections have not been enriched for a very long time. The last painting that came close to being bought was, unless mistaken, the "Frans Hals": a small painting, not very beautiful but very fake (see article).

2. Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1609)
Portrait of Jan Willemsz. van der Pluym…