Lot Essay
Dr. Anne Lowenthal included the present lot in her 1986 catalogue raisonné on Wtewael knowing it only from poor photographs, which led her to conclude that it might be a variant by Wtewael of the painting of the same subject in the Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead, England, or that it "might be a repetition with considerable studio assistance." (op. cit., 1986 p. 163).
The present painting was cleaned and restored in 1991, when Dr. Lowenthal examined it in the original. In a letter dated July 24, 1991 (private communication) she confirms that she believes the painting to be a fully autograph work by Joachim Wtewael, dateable to circa 1611-1615, and furthermore that it pre-dates the painting in the Shipley Art Gallery:
'As this painting has only recently come to light, my earlier
judgments (see Literature) were necessarily based on photographs
of mediocre quality. They had led me to describe an awkwardness
and schematism that I did not find in the painting when I examined it at first hand, as stated above. Furthermore, I earlier suggested that the present painting might be a variant by Wtewael of the Adam and Eve in the Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead
(Lowenthal 1986, A-62). I now suggest that that Gateshead painting is instead derived from the present painting. The landscape and
animals in the Gateshead picture are generalized and the figures
are softer and more sensuous than is typical for Wtewael. The
unusual signature, 'Jo [in ligature] wt de wael/Inventor,' is
consistent with the possibility that the [Shipley] picture is a studio copy.'
Lowenthal compares the figure of Eve with that of Wtewael's figures of Andromeda in Perseus and Andromeda, dated to 1611, in the Louvre, Paris (ibid., pp. 130-131, no. A-59, color plate XVII); and Venus in the Judgment of Paris, dated to 1615, National Gallery, London ÿibid., pp. 134-135, no. A-63, color plate XVIII). She further notes the similarities between Adam's and Paris's torsos; the treatment of the foreground flora and fauna, and the positioning of the arms and hands in the exchange of apples between Paris and Venus in the London picture and Adam and Eve in the present picture.
When the present lot was cleaned and restored, a thick yellowed varnish was removed along with several old areas of repaint, including some leaves that were covering Eve's nudity (ibid., fig 139). The original support of hand-woven linen was found to be uncut, and the painting was relined only at the edges where the fabric had weakened. A copy of the restorer's report is available upon request.
A studio version of the present lot was sold at Sotheby's, London, July 4, 1990, lot 33 (#82,000), mistakenly citing the provenance of the present painting as its own. Dr. Lowenthal examined the Sotheby's painting first hand and concluded that it was a copy.
Dr. Lowenthal intends to publish the present lot as an autograph work by Joachim Wtewael in a forthcoming addendum to her monograph
The present painting was cleaned and restored in 1991, when Dr. Lowenthal examined it in the original. In a letter dated July 24, 1991 (private communication) she confirms that she believes the painting to be a fully autograph work by Joachim Wtewael, dateable to circa 1611-1615, and furthermore that it pre-dates the painting in the Shipley Art Gallery:
'As this painting has only recently come to light, my earlier
judgments (see Literature) were necessarily based on photographs
of mediocre quality. They had led me to describe an awkwardness
and schematism that I did not find in the painting when I examined it at first hand, as stated above. Furthermore, I earlier suggested that the present painting might be a variant by Wtewael of the Adam and Eve in the Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead
(Lowenthal 1986, A-62). I now suggest that that Gateshead painting is instead derived from the present painting. The landscape and
animals in the Gateshead picture are generalized and the figures
are softer and more sensuous than is typical for Wtewael. The
unusual signature, 'Jo [in ligature] wt de wael/Inventor,' is
consistent with the possibility that the [Shipley] picture is a studio copy.'
Lowenthal compares the figure of Eve with that of Wtewael's figures of Andromeda in Perseus and Andromeda, dated to 1611, in the Louvre, Paris (ibid., pp. 130-131, no. A-59, color plate XVII); and Venus in the Judgment of Paris, dated to 1615, National Gallery, London ÿibid., pp. 134-135, no. A-63, color plate XVIII). She further notes the similarities between Adam's and Paris's torsos; the treatment of the foreground flora and fauna, and the positioning of the arms and hands in the exchange of apples between Paris and Venus in the London picture and Adam and Eve in the present picture.
When the present lot was cleaned and restored, a thick yellowed varnish was removed along with several old areas of repaint, including some leaves that were covering Eve's nudity (ibid., fig 139). The original support of hand-woven linen was found to be uncut, and the painting was relined only at the edges where the fabric had weakened. A copy of the restorer's report is available upon request.
A studio version of the present lot was sold at Sotheby's, London, July 4, 1990, lot 33 (#82,000), mistakenly citing the provenance of the present painting as its own. Dr. Lowenthal examined the Sotheby's painting first hand and concluded that it was a copy.
Dr. Lowenthal intends to publish the present lot as an autograph work by Joachim Wtewael in a forthcoming addendum to her monograph