Frans Hals (Antwerp 1581/5 - 1666 Haarlem), Portrait of a man holding a pair of gloves
Frans Hals (Antwerp 1581/5 - 1666 Haarlem), Portrait of a man holding a pair of gloves
Inscribed: AETAT. SVAE 37-/ANO 1637- oil on canvas. 36½ by 26½ in.; 93 by 67 cm. Estimate 8,000,000—12,000,000 USD
PROVENANCE: Comte de Thiènnes, Kasteel Rumbeke, Belgium, acquired in the 19th century;
His granddaughter, Comtesse de Limburg-Stirum, Warmond, The Netherlands;
M.E. van Gelder, Château Zeecrabbe, Uccle, Belgium, by 1911;
Sir William van Horne, Montreal, by 1912;
Miss Adaline van Horne, by 1936;
Gifted to Mrs. William van Horne, June 14, 1944;1
Wildenstein and Co., New York;
From whom acquired by Ambassador J. William Middendorf II, March 1973;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, December 8, 1986, lots 52 and 53 (as property of an American Collector);
With Robert Noortman Gallery, London and Maastricht
From whom acquired by the present owner, in 1996.
EXHIBITED: Montreal, Art Association of Montreal, Inaugural Loan Exhibition of Paintings, December 1912, no. 66;
Montreal, Art Association of Montreal, A Selection from the Collection of Paintings of the Late Sir William van Horne, K.C. M.G., October 16 - November 5, 1933, no. 30;
Montreal, Art Association of Montreal, Loan Exhibition of Great Paintings: Five Centuries of Dutch Art, March 9 to April 9, 1944, no. 34;
on loan to and exhibited at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1973-79;
on loan and to and exhibited at the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1979-86
LITERATURE AND REFERENCES: C. Hofstede de Groot, "Twee nieuw aan het licht gekomen portretten van "Frans Hals," in Onze Kunst, vol. XX, 1911, pp. 172-73 (reprinted in French as "Deux portraits nouvellement attribués à Frans Hals," in L'Art Flamand & Hollandais, Revue Mensuelle Illustrée, vol 17, 1912, pp. 1-2, reproduced);
Editor's note, "A propose de deux portraits attribués à Frans Hals," in L'Art Flamand & Hollandais, Revue Mensuelle Illustrée, vol. 20, 1913, p.120;
W. von Bode and M.J. Binder, Frans Hals: sein Leben und seine Werke, Berlin 1914, vol. II, no. 162, reproduced;
W. R. Valentiner, Frans Hals. Des Meisters Gemälde (Klassiker der Kunst), Stuttgart and Berlin 1921, no. 155 and p. 316, reproduced (in the second edition of 1923, it appears as no. 166);
W. Drost, Barockmalerei in den germanischen Ländern, Potsdam 1926, pp. 139-140;
F. Dülberg, Frans Hals. Ein Leben und ein Werk, Stuttgart 1930, p.158;
W. R. Valentiner, Frans Hals Paintings in America, Westport, Conn. 1936, no. 60;
G.D. Gratama, Frans Hals, The Hague 1943, p. 56, no. 68, reproduced;
R. H. Hubbard, European Paintings in Canadian Collections. Earlier Schools. Toronto 1956, pp. 81 and 151, reproduced;
S. Slive, Frans Hals, London and New York, 1970-74, vol. III, p. 60, no. 109, reproduced vol. II, pl. 178;
C. Grimm, Frans Hals: Entwicklung, Werkanalyse, Gesamtkatalog, Berlin 1972, p. 97 and p. 203, nos 86;
C. Grimm, L'opera completa di Frans Hals, Milan 1974, p.100, no. 118 , reproduced;
"Side by Side at the Fogg," in the Harvard Gazette, February 29, 1980, p. 3, reproduced;
C. Grimm, Frans Hals: The Complete Work, English edition, New York 1990, p. 282, cat. no. 87, reproduced;
CATALOGUE NOTE: Please see the following pages for a full description of this lot.
Sotheby's. Important Old Master Paintings, Including European Works of Art. 29 Jan 09. New York www.sothebys.com photo courtesy Sotheby's