Lot 12

THE COLLECTION OF THE LATE GERARD ARNHOLDI first met Gerard Arnhold in 1967 when I was 21 and had just started at Spink & Son, the distinguished dealers and crown medallists in London. He careered through the Spink galleries like a small tornado, looking at a variety of Asian works of art, firing off questions, and occasionally allowing a thoughtful smile to cross his face. From then on, he became a constant in my life with his indefatigable energy, curiosity and need to collect antiques.Gerard was a collector of works of art on a major scale and, in the process, he also collected people from all walks of life whom he would introduce to one another, whether or not they had anything in common. Born in Dresden in 1918, the grandson of Georg Arnhold, a banker celebrated for his philanthropy, Gerard studied in Dresden and Switzerland. As conditions in 1930s Germany worsened, the Arnhold family left and in 1937 Gerard began his studies at King’s College, Cambridge. He spoke with happiness of his time there and was proud of his British passport and that he served in the British Army from 1940. However, his commitment to Dresden was unwavering and he and his family often visited after reunification. He was a great supporter of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, and also supported the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen and the Völkerkundemuseum, among other projects in the city.Settling in Brazil in 1953, Gerard ran a successful business but philanthropy was always an important part of his life – he gave to museums, zoos, nature preservation schemes and music projects, including the Wexford Opera Festival in Ireland. He was, however, always on the move and would suddenly appear in my office as if he had never left, asking what treasures we had that he could buy. If I happened to be out he would leave provocative notes on my desk, letting me know that he was off to visit other dealers and auction houses.Gerard was described as difficult by some of his family, friends and curators but I preferred to think of him as challenging, and whatever scrapes or situations he found himself in, he seemed able to extricate himself with his innate, subtle and rather seductive charm. Often impatient, I remember on one visit to Brazil, his knocking loudly on my bedroom door at 6 in the morning asking if I was awake and how soon could we start checking and listing his jades! His home was a mass of paintings and works of art, many of which were purchased in the twenty years after the war, but he never stopped collecting. His huge collections of Chinese and Asia art were scattered all over the apartment, in particular his study and gallery room.It is often said of people that their like will not come again, and in Gerard’s case it is true. His need to explore and acquire works of art on such a scale is unlikely to be seen again, and his deep curiosity and his background meant that conversations with him were the best of history lessons. His personal taste survives in his collection of paintings and works of art, many of which are now to be seen in museums and private collections around the world.Roger KeverneLondon, March 2018

Pieter Claesz (Berchem 1597/8-1660/1 Haarlem)

Two roemers, a roll, a plate of olives, a knife, and tobacco and oysters on a pewter dish atop a table

Details

Pieter Claesz (Berchem 1597/8-1660/1 Haarlem)
Two roemers, a roll, a plate of olives, a knife, and tobacco and oysters on a pewter dish atop a table
signed with monogram and dated 'PC 1642' (lower left, on the edge of the tabletop)
oil on panel
14 5/8 x 20 ¼ in. (37.1 x 51.3 cm.)

Provenance

Paulus Creulz. Berger, 1642 (according to an inscription on the panel).
[The Property of a Lady]; Christie's, London, 8 October 1976, lot 16.
with Alfred Brod Gallery, London, by 1977.
Mr. and Mrs. J. Seward Johnson; Sotheby's, New York, 8 January 1981, lot 9.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 15 January 1985, lot 36, where acquired by the present owner.

Literature

Apollo, CV, 1977, p. 3, illustrated.
Die Weltkunst, XLVII, 1977, p. 1147, illustrated.
N.R.A. Vroom, A Modest Message, as intimated by the painters of the 'Monochrome Banketje', Schiedam, 1980, I, p. 155, II, p. 51, no. 242, illustrated, as Franchoys Elaut.

Exhibited

Maastricht, Pictura, 1977, no. 1977/10.

Sale room notice

We are grateful to Dr. Martina Brunner-Bulst for endorsing the attribution to Pieter Claesz on the basis of photographs.

Lot Essay

Pieter Claesz was, with Willem Claesz. Heda, the leading painter of still lifes in Haarlem in the first half of the 17th century. Claesz’s paintings of the 1640s tend to display an increased interest in the depiction of the smooth, reflecting surfaces of costly objects like the soaring, upright roemer in this painting. Moreover, they are frequently enlivened by luxury foodstuffs like the oysters, commonly held to be an aphrodisiac, that appear on the pewter plate at right. The theme of sexual arousal and intoxication is further underscored by the white wine in the upright roemer, the tobacco wrapped in local newsprint, and the overturned glass in the background.

While Vroom considered this and a number of other paintings bearing Claesz’s monogram to be by Franchoys Elaut (op. cit.), there is no compelling reason to doubt the traditional attribution to Claesz. Indeed, Elaut had already died in 1635, seven years before this painting was executed.

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