2 août 2017

Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669), and Studio, A Young Man with a Chain, c. 1629 or 1632, oil on wood, Framed: 83.8 x 69.8 x 12.7 cm (33 x 27 1/2 x 5 in.); Unframed: 57.8 x 43.8 cm (22 3/4 x 17 3/16 in.). Bequest of John L. Severance, 1942.644 © The Cleveland Museum of Art. This painting is an example of a tronie, a Dutch word meaning “head” or “facial expression.” Tronies were not intended to be identifiable portraits, but artistic investigations of facial appearance and fanciful costume. Particularly in the years around 1630,... [Lire la suite]

Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669), and Studio, Portrait of a Woman, 1635 or earlier, oil on wood, Framed: 97.7 x 83.8 x 6.4 cm (38 1/2 x 33 x 2 1/2 in.); Unframed: 77.5 x 64.8 cm (30 1/2 x 25 1/2 in.). The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Collection, 1944.90 © The Cleveland Museum of Art. At the age of 25, Rembrandt moved from his hometown of Leiden to the bustling city of Amsterdam. Within a few years he had become one of the city’s most successful portrait painters, creating remarkably vivid likenesses that seemed to express the... [Lire la suite]

Frans Hals (Dutch, c. 1581-1666), Portrait of a Woman, possibly Aeltje Dircksdr. Pater , 1638, oil on canvas, Framed: 82 x 67 x 6.5 cm (32 1/4 x 26 3/8 x 2 1/2 in.); Unframed: 66.5 x 52.3 cm (26 1/8 x 20 9/16 in.). Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1948.137 © The Cleveland Museum of Art. Some portraits like that of Tieleman Roosterman (in the middle of this wall) display the bravura strokes we associate with Hals, while this work shows him experimenting with tighter handling. Hals often painted “wet-into-wet,” not allowing the... [Lire la suite]

Frans Hals (Dutch, c. 1581-1666), Portrait of Tieleman Roosterman, 1634, oil on canvas, Framed: 139 x 109 x 5.5 cm (54 11/16 x 42 7/8 x 2 1/8 in.); Unframed: 117 x 87 cm (46 1/16 x 34 1/4 in.). Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund, 1999.173 © The Cleveland Museum of Art. Tieleman Roosterman's business in fine linen and silk fabrics extended as far as France. Given his trade, it is no surprise that Hals emphasized costume here, luxurious despite its sober color. Here Roosterman wears a black doublet with slashed sleeves, a wide collar,... [Lire la suite]

Peridot and diamond necklace. Photo: Sotheby's. From the collection of Marjorie S. Fisher, this necklace is composed of a line of alternating oval-shaped peridots and rose-cut diamonds. Peridot, green garnet, black diamond and diamond ‘Panda’ brooch. Sold for HK$375,000 ($48,386) at Sotheby’s Hong Kong. Photo: Sotheby's.  In this whimsical design that more than doubled its high estimate, a precious panda made of black and white diamonds sits atop a Burmese cushion-shaped peridot weighing 36.38 carats. Gold and peridot... [Lire la suite]

Lot 1511. A large bronze ritual pouring vessel, yi, Western Zhou dynasty, 9th-8th century BC, 13 5/8 in. (34.5 cm.) long. Estimate USD 120,000 - USD 180,000. Price realised USD 146,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012  Raised on four flat legs cast as compressed dragons with clawed feet, the sides horizontally ribbed below a band of angular scroll flat-cast below the rim, the loop handle formed by the arched body of a horned dragon biting the rim in its jaws, with a fifteen-character... [Lire la suite]

Lot 11. The Ji Ran Gui. A bronze ritual food vessel, Late Shang dynasty, 13th-11th century BC.Height 5 3/4  in., 14.6 cm; Width 10 3/4 in., 27.3 cm. Estimate 50,000 — 70,000 USD. Lot sold 87,500 USD. Photo: Sotheby's. the rounded sides decorated below the flared rim with a band of eight kui dragons, centered by an animal-mask in high relief on two sides and divided by two loop handles springing from animal heads with raised circular eyes, oblong ears and... [Lire la suite]

Lot 1510. A bronze ritual wine vessel and cover, you, Late Shang dynasty, 11th century BC, 9¼ in. (23.5 cm.) high. Estimate USD 70,000 - USD 90,000. Price realised USD 134,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012  Of pear shape and elliptical section, raised on a spreading foot encircled by two bow-string bands, the sides cast with a raised band of angular leiwen spirals between borders of circles, with an animal mask cast in high relief on each side and two loops at the... [Lire la suite]

Lot 8. The Zhong Zhi Fu Gui. An important bronze ritual food vessel, Early Western Zhou Dynasty, 11th-10th Century BC. Estimate 80,000 — 120,000. Lot sold 437,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's. the rounded body resting on a high splayed foot terminating with a straight foot ring, cast below the gently everted rim with a border of four pairs of confronted kui dragons with raised eyes, hooked jaws and flag-like tops, bisected by an animal-mask in high relief on two sides and interrupted by... [Lire la suite]

Lot 1507. A bronze ritual food vessel, gui, Late Shang dynasty, 12th-11th century BC, 9 in. (23 cm.) across handles. Estimate USD 100,000 - USD 150,000. Price realised USD 230,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012  The sides cast with a 'diamond and boss' band between borders of circles, below four pairs of quilled dragons centered on either a small mask on two sides or the bovine heads that surmount the C-scroll handles that terminate in hooked tabs and are cast with taotie masks, with a... [Lire la suite]