Venus and Cupid

Details

Werner Jacobsz. van den Valckert (The Hague? 1580/85-c. 1627 Amsterdam?)
Venus and Cupid
signed 'W.v: valckert pinxit' (lower left)
oil on panel
101.4 x 75.6 cm.

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Lepke, Berlin, 11 February 1902, lot 16.
Anonymous sale; Amsterdam, 11 November 1923, lot 492.
Anonymous sale; Amsterdam, 15 December 1925, lot 236.
G.C.V. Schöffer, Amsterdam, on long term loan to the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, inv. no. c792, 1906-1922.
Anonymous sale; Mak van Waay, Amsterdam, 14 June 1949, lot 184.

Literature

Verslagen der Rijksverzameling van Geschiedenis en kunst, XXIX, 1906, p. 26.
Catalogus der Schilderijen Rijksmuseum, 1912, no. 2357A.
F.W. Hudig, 'Werner van den Valckert', I, Oud Holland, LIV, 1937, pp. 63-4, fig. 12.
U. Thieme and F. Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler, XXXIV, 1907-1950, p. 53.
P.J. van Thiel, 'Werner van den Valckert',Oud Holland, XCVII, 1983, pp. 137-8, 179 and 192-3, fig. 14.

Exhibited

Utrecht, Catalogus der Tentoonstelling van Oude Schilderkunst, 20 August-1 October 1894, p. 153, no. 443.
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, on long-term loan by G.C.V. Schöffer, inv. no. c792, 1906-22.

Special notice

Christie's charges a Buyer's premium calculated at 23.205% of the hammer price for each lot with a value up to €110,000. If the hammer price of a lot exceeds €110,000 then the premium for the lot is calculated at 23.205% of the first €110,000 plus 11.9% of any amount in excess of €110,000. Buyer's Premium is calculated on this basis for each lot individually.

Lot Essay

Werner Jacobsz. van den Valckert is thought to have been a member the Guild of Saint Luke between 1600-1605. He is later known to have moved to Amsterdam, where he registered the birth of his daughter in 1614 (see Thiel, op. cit., p. 128).

During his early career at The Hague, Valckert is mainly known to have worked as an engraver, and it is notable that the present lot is the only known painting from the The Hague period; as such it is the earliest recorded picture by the artist. Van Thiel dates the picture to 1612. He compares the present lot with two dated etchings by Valckert, The Sleeping Venus and The Holy Family (op.cit, p. 137), where, like the present picture, the artist explores the sharp contrasts between light and shadow.

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