Valentin de Boulogne, Christ Crowned with Thorns – estimate $4m-6m at Sotheby’s.
Peter Paul Rubens’ (1577-1640) Salome presented with the severed head of John the Baptist, a work that was rediscovered in the 1980s, has star billing with an estimate of $25m-35m.
Offered alongside it will be paintings by Guercino, Orazio Gentileschi, Bernardo Cavallino and this early work shown above by Valentin de Boulogne (1591-1632): Christ Crowned with Thorns. It was painted c.1614 when the artist had just arrived in Rome and exhibits elements of the tenebrist style of Caravaggio. Prior to entering the Fisch Davidson collection, the painting was in the collection of Alfred Taubman and when it sold at auction in 2016 it realised a premium-inclusive $5.178m, the current record for the artist.
It will be offered this month with an estimate of $4m-6m.
Seal of approval
Young woman sealing a letter by Frans van Mieris the Elder – guide $1.5m-2m at Sotheby’s.
A dozen Dutch Old Masters – landscapes, seascapes, still-life, urban and genre studies – make up the collection of Theiline Scheumann to be offered by Sotheby’s on January 26.
The ensemble of 17th century paintings was put together over the course of two decades.
It includes a scene of a young woman sealing a letter by Frans van Mieris the Elder (1635-81): a meticulously detailed work oil on panel measuring 10½ x 8in (27 x 20cm) in the fijnschidler (fine painting) tradition signed and dated 1667.
The estimate is $1.5m-2m.
