Early Northern works at TEFAF 2025

Last time I was in TEFAF was two years ago. It's subjective, but to me and many others TEFAF felt more energetic this year. Though, this enthusiasm was not necessarily met with an overwhelming amount of sales. Out of the galleries with medieval works I recall seeing at most 2 or maybe 3 red stickers, some with none.

However, there were some very interesting works, including some that are more fresh to the market and even some important rediscoveries. Some dealers appear to be lowering their margins compared to what I was expecting, offering prices that are somewhat understandable or reasonable. And most dealers were very receptive and open to talk about their items and the art world in general.

Before I jump in to recounting some of the object highlights, I want to mention that on the public opening day there was an excellent panel regarding the upcoming exhibition of the Tres Riches Heures in Chantilly. The room was full and there were many young people in attendance as well.

For me, the highlight of the fair was undoubtedly the important rediscovery of a painting associated with the Corella Triptych by Caretto & Occhinegro. Missing for over 100 years, these enthusiastic young dealers recently rediscovered the neglected painting.

This marks a major rediscovery. There are exceptionally few works directly from the orbit of van Eyck. And this work presents many unique features. It is oil painted on vellum, the largest painting of its kind on this support. The painting appears to be most closely related to the Corella triptych in the Prado museum, especially the right wing.

Recently the Corella triptych has been associated with the manuscript illuminator known as The Master of the Collins Hours. The painting in Madrid is suggestive of manuscript illuminations, with its tiny figures and minute detail. The theory is not fully proven but has a lot of circumstantial evidence behind it.

The Prado Museum website says about the attribution of this painting:

The obvious candidate for this was Louis Alincbrot, a painter recorded in Bruges in 1432-37, who had settled in Valencia by 1439, and who had died there by 1463. A close examination of the triptych, however, alongside a reassessment of what we know from archival sources about Alincbrot, indicates a different history for its making, and a surprising turn for its attribution. It would appear not to have been made in Valencia, and not to have been made by Alincbrot. Its artist, if not his name, can be identified, allowing us to expand our ideas of Flemish painting of the period, of the impact of Jan van Eyck`s works on artists in the 1440s, and of the acquisition of northern paintings at the court of Alfonso V of Aragon.

The cityscape in the background of both paintings is particularly close to the Three Marys at the Tomb in Rotterdam historically given to Hubert van Eyck.

The composition of this paintings bears significant resemblance to the later masterpiece known as the Pietà of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon by one of the leading painters of the Avignon school, Enguerrand Quarton. Especially the position of the body of Christ and the fact that the hand holding his head in both cases blocks the rays of the halos, a feature that is not known elsewhere in other works.

The connection between this painting, the Corella Triptych, The Collins Hours, and the rest of the Eyckian school of works will no doubt be subject to further research. In an essay prepared for the exhibition at Tefaf, Susie Nash presents the idea that the Corella Triptych was an earlier work by the same master, and that our painting may date slightly later to around 1450, when he had grown more accustomed to the scale and techniques of panel painting.

Regardless of the attribution and details, this is an incredibly important rediscovery and especially unique work. I hope it ends up in a top tier museum where it belongs. Congrats to Caretto & Occhinegro for this magnificent rediscovery. I was personally very surprised the painting did not sell at TEFAF, especially considering the relatively reasonable asking price of 1M. No doubt museums need time to go back to their committees and do all the bureaucratic paperwork, and surely this work will be sold soon.

Up next, the second most important item was also a rediscovery, a Mourner's Niche from the Tomb of Philip the Bold, carved by Claus Sluter. Sold to a prominent European museum by Sam Fogg, this architectural niche was originally purchased as a neogothic work with a low estimate.

Claus Sluter is an incredibly important artist, and this is an incredibly important work. The Tomb of Phillip the Bold was looted during the French revolution and fragments were dispersed. Today there are a handful of Niches like this in varying museums such as the Museum Mayer van den Bergh in Antwerp and the Memorial Art Gallery at the University of Rochester.

From the Memorial Art Gallery of Rochester University:

This sculpture was originally part of the tomb of Philip the Bold, who was the ruler of the Netherlands and regent of France until his death in 1404. Forty mourning figures, called pleurants, form a procession around the base of the tomb. Each is placed in an arcade characterized by gothic architectural forms. The gisants, or funerary statues, of the Duke and his wife rest on top of the tomb.

The tomb of Philip the Bold, originally in the Carthusian monastery of Champmol at Dijon, France, was destroyed in the French Revolution. Many of the surviving fragments, including the top of this arcade, were salvaged and then sold to collectors. The tomb was extensively restored from 1818 to 1823 and now stands in the Museum of Fine Arts in Dijon.

I was told that the Niche sold by Sam Fogg contained remnants of gilding. Considering that none other than Jean Malouel was hired for the polychromy of the tomb, this may be a trace of his handywork.

One more sculptural masterpiece sold by Sam Fogg at TEFAF was the Brass Lectern with gothic tracery:

I had spotted this one at auction but unfortunately could not keep up with the big fish. Estimated at just a few thousand EUR, it sold for 58,000 at auction prior to being offered at TEFAF. An incredibly rare and beautiful object, Sam Fogg said he has never seen anything like it for sale in his career.

Up next are more sculptural works sold by Galerie Sismann. First of which is a gilded portable triptych from a known workshop in the first quarter 16th century. I spotted this one at auction earlier this year, where it was sold for 58,000 + 30% fees against a measly 400-600 EUR estimate.

In a remarkable coincidence, despite the fact that there are only about a dozen or so of these works in existence, a week later a second was sold at Sotheby's Paris for 84,000 EUR.

From Sotheby's Paris:

The present diptych is part of a group of about a dozen surviving house-altars, mostly triptychs and depicting various subjects, which are thought to have been made by the same Brabant workshop between circa 1500 and 1510. Though these altars are likely to have been produced in quite large numbers, their precious dimensions mean that few examples survive today. The group was first recognised and published in 1958 by Jaap Leeuwenberg (op. cit.), who listed six examples, while a more recent survey (Gliesmann, op. cit., pp. 281-299) records twelve works which follow the same general design. Among them, only three examples – including the present diptych – appear still to be in private hands.

In addition to the portable/house triptych, Galerie Sismann also sold an exceptional and imposing statue of Charles VII (?) as Saint Louis.

Comparison can be made with saint in the bottom left of The Crucifixion from the Parliament of Paris, given to Franco-Burgundian painter and manuscript illuminator André d'Ypres.

At Galerie Pelgrims de Bigard there was a very unique presentation. A Netherlandish panel by an Anonymous Brussels artist was presented (left) next to another panel from the same altarpiece (right) on loan from a small museum, Museum Wittert in Liege.

Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books had an incredible collection of mostly Italian manuscripts and miniatures, the majority coming from The Alana Collection and a recently rediscovered private collection, both purchased in whole by Dr. Günther.

An interesting manuscript for display was a Book of Hours, for Dominican use (?). The manuscript has been stripped of its full page miniatures, but would originally have been an incredibly luxurious commission. The remaining 54 borders were illuminated by three artists, including the Master of the First Prayerbook of Maximillian I, who used similar models for the border decorations to the Rothschild hours.