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拍品專文
Though previously attributed to the anonymous follower of the Le Nain brothers, the Maître aux Béguins, the present work can be convincingly attributed to Abraham Willemsens by comparison with a signed work in a private collection, (see Gregory Martin, Abraham Willemsens (again), Apollo Magazine, CXXXVII, Feb. 1993, no. 372, new series, p. 97, fig. 1) in which the sleeping man is repeated.
The oeuvre of this long forgotten Antwerp artist has been thoughtfully brought into focus through the publication of two articles by Gregory Martin in Apollo (The Maître aux Béguins. A proposed identification, Feb. 1991, pp. 112ff; and op. cit., 1993, pp. 97-101). He notes the similarity in subject and treatment with, for instance, the Farmyard with a woman and child feeding poultry, private collection (a pendant to the signed painted mentioned above (ibid., 1993, fig. 2) which recalls the outdoor scenes of the brothers Le Nain. The seated woman in this recently re-attributed work by Willemsens recurs in the Woman selling Fruit, in the Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow, which has been seen as a key work in the oeuvre of the Maître aux Béguins. Qualities which lead Jacques Thuillier to propose a Flemish origin for the Mâitre aux Béguins (J. Thuillier, Les Freres le Nain, Grand Palais, 1978-9, p. 319, no. 74), seen in the Hunterian painting, can also be seen in the depiction of the vessels and vegetables in the present work, as well as in the pair of farmyard scenes illustrated in Apollo (op. cit., 1993).
Though no dated works surely attributable to Willemsens have yet come to light, this group of paintings, inspired by the open air scenes of the Le Nain brothers executed in the 1640s, seem to have been painted in the following decade. In a few of his known works, Willemsens signed with the monogram ABW. The only fully signed painting which has come to light was sold at Christie's, London, April 19, 1991, lot 90 for £30,000.
The oeuvre of this long forgotten Antwerp artist has been thoughtfully brought into focus through the publication of two articles by Gregory Martin in Apollo (The Maître aux Béguins. A proposed identification, Feb. 1991, pp. 112ff; and op. cit., 1993, pp. 97-101). He notes the similarity in subject and treatment with, for instance, the Farmyard with a woman and child feeding poultry, private collection (a pendant to the signed painted mentioned above (ibid., 1993, fig. 2) which recalls the outdoor scenes of the brothers Le Nain. The seated woman in this recently re-attributed work by Willemsens recurs in the Woman selling Fruit, in the Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow, which has been seen as a key work in the oeuvre of the Maître aux Béguins. Qualities which lead Jacques Thuillier to propose a Flemish origin for the Mâitre aux Béguins (J. Thuillier, Les Freres le Nain, Grand Palais, 1978-9, p. 319, no. 74), seen in the Hunterian painting, can also be seen in the depiction of the vessels and vegetables in the present work, as well as in the pair of farmyard scenes illustrated in Apollo (op. cit., 1993).
Though no dated works surely attributable to Willemsens have yet come to light, this group of paintings, inspired by the open air scenes of the Le Nain brothers executed in the 1640s, seem to have been painted in the following decade. In a few of his known works, Willemsens signed with the monogram ABW. The only fully signed painting which has come to light was sold at Christie's, London, April 19, 1991, lot 90 for £30,000.