Lot 26. Studio of Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 Blackfriars), Saint Andrew, oil on panel, 63.5 x 47.6cm (25 x 18 3/4in). Estimate £10,000 - 15,000 (€12,000 - 17,000). Sold for £75,000 (€85,214). Photo: Bonhams.

Provenance: Morris I. Kaplan, Chicago
His sale, Sotheby's, London, 12 June 1968, lot 33 (£4,000, as Sir Anthony van Dyck), where purchased by the present owner's uncle

Note: The present composition is after van Dyck's original, now in The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida, which once formed part of a series of depictions of the Twelve Apostles and one Head of Christ, known as the Böhler Series, after the Munich dealer who purchased all twelve Apostles (but not the Christ) from the descendants of the Genoese noble family who had owned them since the 18th century. This series is now scattered around the world in various collections and museums. There is another example, considered autograph, in the Museum of Art, Ponce, Puerto Rico. Saint Peter and Saint Thomas from the series were sold at Sotheby's on the 24 January 2002 for $3,140,750 and $2,095,750, which were auction records for the artist at that time. 

Not only was van Dyck known to have painted more than one version of the series but it is known that the Apostles were almost immediately copied at the time: most famously the subject of a lawsuit brought in 1660/61 by Franciscus Hillewerven against the art dealer, Paul Heulewels. Unfortunately the verdict has been lost, but a crucial witness in the trial was Jacob Jordaens who declared, alongside other artists, that he had himself seen the paintings being done by copyists and not by the master himself.