Hendrik van Balen II (Antwerp 1623-1661) and Jan Breughel II (Antwerp 1601-1678)

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THE PROPERTY OF THE LATE PROFESSOR RENÉ KÜSS (LOTS 11-19 AND 131-161) Professor René Küss spent his entire life between two passions: his medical practice and his paintings collection. A celebrated French surgeon who established his reputation in kidney transplant research, Professor Küss was an avid collector from his earliest days. Professor Küss's interest covered two distinct fields: Impressionist art and Old Master paintings. These joined the majolica collection he had inherited from his father. Born into a family of doctors and lawyers in eastern France, he had a traditional French bourgeoisie éclairée upbringing, surrounded by collectors imbued with the spirit of the cabinet d'amateur. His maternal aunt, Mathilde Amos, sold him his first painting -- a small portrait of a woman by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. As well as majolica, his father had collected books, drawings, antiquities and stamps. The forty Old Master pictues in the Küss collection offer fine examples of the major schools of painting, including works by Rubens, Fragonard, Pater, Tiepolo, Panini, Wouwermans, van Ostade and Cranach. Particularly rich in oil sketches and rare subjects, the Küss Collection reflects the taste of a cultivated amateur. Küss bought mainly at auction, adoring the thrill of the chase. He was a man of great determination, as witnessed by his purchase of the Fête champêtre by Pater, which he missed in a sale, and upon seeing it in a gallery window twenty years later, bought it on the spot. The provenance of the paintings he collected had an important appeal for Professor Küss and many works bear witness to their illustrious former owners: Guardi's Porta del Dolo had belonged to Baron Henri de Rothschild, Tenier's Farm Landscape to the duc de Choiseul and Wouwerman's Duck Hunt had been in the collection of the duc de Morny. Eager to share his works with the public, Professor Küss never turned down a loan request for museum exhibitions. He took great pleasure in sharing his paintings with his family, friends, relatives, and all admirers of art. So it is in this continuing spirit that Professor Küss wished to have his paintings brought together one last time in catalogues devoted to his collection, and then publicly sold at auction following his death. The Property of the late Professor René Küss (Lots 11-18)

Hendrik van Balen II (Antwerp 1623-1661) and Jan Breughel II (Antwerp 1601-1678)

Diana and Actaeon

Details

Hendrik van Balen II (Antwerp 1623-1661) and Jan Breughel II (Antwerp 1601-1678)
Diana and Actaeon
oil on copper, stamped on the reverse with the maker's mark of Pieter Staas
11¾ x 16¼ in. (29.8 x 41.3 cm.)

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Palais Galliéra, Paris, 3 December 1971, lot 5, as Attributed to Rottenhammer, where acquired by René Küss.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

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