LOT DETAILS

Materials:

oil on oak panel

Measurements:

20.91 in. (53.10 cm.) (height) by 15.91 in. (40.40 cm.) (width)

Condition:

The following condition report is provided by Henry Gentle who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: Jacobus Vrel Street scene Oil on panel, in a later ebonised frame The oak panel is very well preserved. It has a central vertical join, which is stable and secure. The paint layer is in very good original condition. Under raking light conditions the vertical grain is raised and under u-v light restoration is visible and has been applied to reduce this , particularly in the sky. Minor natural shrinkage of the paint layer, resulting in some fine craquelure, can be detected in the tiled awning to the right hand side and to the roof of the archway, left. A small repaired loss can be seen to the left eye of the standing hooded figure on the left and to the three columned window. Traces of original gilding can be seen to the trade signs. Overall, the painting is very well preserved with little evidence of any previous conservation intervention. Fine details and the original paint texture are in a good original state , reflected in their crispness and the retention of the chromatic subtleties of the composition which would be improved by the removal of the discoloured and degraded varnish. "This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Exhibited:

Atlanta, High Museum of Art, ; Masterpieces of the Dutch Golden Age, 24 September – 10 November 1985, no. 57.

Literature:

W.R Valentiner, 'Dutch genre paintings in the manner of P. de Hooch, II. Jacobus Vrel', ; Art in America, 1929, pp. 91–92; ; C. Brière-Misme, 'Un ‘intimiste’ Hollandais – Jacob Vrel', Revue de l’Art, November 1935, pp. 110, n. 2, reproduced p. 107, fig. 5;

E. Plietzsch, 'Jacobus Vrel und Esaias Boursse', in Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 4, 1949, pp. 248 ff.;

W.R. Valentiner, 'Jacques de Ville or Jacobus Vrel', Bulletin of the J. Paul Getty Museum of Art, I, 2, 1959, pp. 23 ff.;

G. Regnier, 'Jacob Vrel, un Vermeer du Pauvre', Gazette des Beaux-Arts, May–June 1968, reproduced p. 281, fig. 15; ; W. Bernt, Die Niederländischen Maler des 17. Jahrhunderts, Munich 1980, vol. III, reproduced plate 1432; ; E.A. Honig, Everything there is to know about... Jacob Vrel, MS, RKD, The Hague, 25 March 1985, no. B-5; ; F.J. Duparc, Masterpieces of the Dutch Golden Age, exh. cat., Atlanta 1985, p. 126, no. 57, reproduced;

E.A. Honig, 'Looking in (to) Jacob Vrel', in Yale Journal of Criticism, III, 1, 1989, pp. 37 ff; 

E. M[ai], in E. Mai (ed.), Das Kabinett des Sammlers, Cologne 1993, pp. 267–68, no. 105, reproduced.

Provenance:

Günther Fasano, Lago di Garda, Italy; ; With Bernheimer, Munich; ; With Julius Böhler, Munich; ; From whom acquired by John D. McIlhenny (1910–1986), Philadelphia, on 21 January 1915; ; By inheritance to his widow, by 1935; ; With Gebr. Douwes, London, 1979–80 (by whom advertised in <em>Apollo</em>, March 1980); ; Acquired for the present collection shortly after, and certainly by 1985.