Lot 111
Lot 111
JEF VANDERVEKEN (ANVERS 1872-1964 IXELLES)

Sainte Barbe

Price Realised EUR 8,820
Estimate
EUR 3,000 - EUR 5,000
Closed: 16 Jun 2023
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JEF VANDERVEKEN (ANVERS 1872-1964 IXELLES)

Sainte Barbe

Price Realised EUR 8,820
Closed: 16 Jun 2023
Price Realised EUR 8,820
Closed: 16 Jun 2023
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Details
JEF VANDERVEKEN (ANVERS 1872-1964 IXELLES)
Sainte Barbe
huile sur panneau contrecollé sur panneau, sans cadre
29,5 x 23,4 cm. (1158 x 914 in.)
Provenance
Collection de Madame E. T. de S... ; sa vente, hôtel Drouot, Paris, (Me Lair-Dubreuil), 2 décembre 1925, 15 (comme 'école flamande (XVe siècle)').
Collection particulière, Paris.
Literature
J.-L. Pypaert, 'Early Netherlandish Painting XV : Joseph van der Veken', in D. Vanwijinsberghe (dir.), Autour de la Madeleine Renders. Un aspect de l'histoire des collections, de la restauration et de la contrefaçon en Belgique dans la première moitié du XXème siècle, Bruxelles, 2008, p. 234, n°127 (comme 'Jef Van der Veken').
FURTHER DETAILS
JEF VANDERVEKEN, SAINT BARBARA, OIL ON PANEL LAID DOWN ON PANEL, UNFRAMED

This painting, long considered a work of the Northern Renaissance, is in fact a work by one of the most fascinating forgers of the first half of the 20th century, Jef Vanderveken (1872-1964).

Vanderveken is remembered by some connoisseurs as the brilliant artist who produced one of the panels of the Ghent Altarpiece (the Just Judges) commissioned by the church after its theft in 1934. This part of the altarpiece is not the only evidence of this artist's pictorial mastery. Initially a decorative painter, Vanderveken is said to have launched himself into the – sustained – manufacture of forgeries after seeing some of his creations resurfacing as Renaissance originals on the art market. Opening a painting gallery in Brussels, he later joined forces with a businessman, Émile Renders (1872-1956), who supplied him with a large number of low-quality antique panels on which Vanderveken repainted extensively, thus preserving old supports and craquelure.

At the beginning of the century, some of his "restorations, creations" found their way into prestigious European collections, while others were exhibited in renowned institutions alongside masterpieces of the Renaissance, as in the exhibition Flemish and Belgian Art, 1300-1900 (Burlington House, London). After the First World War, he gradually abandoned forgery to devote himself to the restoration of works of art and to the service of museums. His knowledge of painting techniques made him a valuable witness in 1946 at the trial of another forger, Hans van Meegeren (1889-1947), the author of the fake religious scenes by Vermeer (1632-1675).

Jean-Luc Pypaert, who has worked on Vanderveken's corpus of forgeries, lists about a hundred of his works, including ours, which he dates from his pre-war production and to which he relates a preparatory drawing by his hand.
Special notice
From time to time, Christie's may offer a lot which it owns in whole or in part. This is such a lot.
Artist's Resale Right ("droit de Suite"). If the Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer also agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.
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Brought to you by
Bérénice VerdierAssociate Specialist
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