Completed Continental European after 1800, Northern Ireland: Artists and Subjects 15 comments Is this a Maurice de Vlaminck landscape?
© ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2024. Photo credit: Northern Ireland Civil Service
This painting looks like a work by Maurice de Vlaminck to me. The signature and overall handling of composition and brushwork look very similar to other winter landscapes by his hand. The official expertise for this artist is handled by the Wildenstein Institute in Paris.
Francine Wolterbeek, Entry reviewed by Art UK
Completed, Outcome
This discussion is now closed. It has been established that the picture is a colour reproduction of ‘Maison et forêt sous la neige’, c.1937, by Maurice de Vlaminck.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the discussion. To anyone viewing this discussion for the first time, please see below for all the comments that led to this conclusion.
14 comments
Dr Marion Richards, Art Detective Manager, has added: ‘I'm attaching the images of the front, back and frame kindly provided by Gina Brown at the collection. The PCF catalogue also records the medium and support as 'oil on card'. All 13 paintings by Maurice de Vlaminck on Art UK https://bit.ly/3ATaFDx are oil on canvas.’
What is known about provenance? When did it enter the collection?
The presumed signature at lower left does not quite match that on known Vlaminck pictures on Art UK, to my eye.
Sounds like the princeps for the picture went under the hammer in 2019, as
Maison et forêt sous la neige, oil on canvas, 65.4 x 81.1 cm, c. 1937
https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-maurice-de-vlaminck-1876-1958-maison-et-foret-6202547/?
The markings on the Christie's version are so accurately reproduced in the Northern Ireland image, is the collection sure its not a mechanical reproduction?
The image has the appearance of a work by Maurice -de-Vlaminck however an oil painting behind glass is unusual. Might the work exhibited be a copy?
Oil paint has to breath and is not placed behind glass.the image is reported to be on card. Such painting on card may be reinforced when framed without glass.
I agree with Patrick and Alistair - this is surely a reproduction print... I'm struggling to conjure up a narrative that would explain why a Vlaminck oil from 1937 would be in such a cheap and nasty frame... he was definitely a 'championship', or moreover slightly faded 'premier league' name at that time and this work would've been presented in a Louis XIV or Montparnasse style frame, with exhibition labels verso from a major gallery...
Depending on the date of production, this might be a giclée type of reproductive print.
Here is an equivalent, described as a 'vintage lithograph' and, at 22 x 28 inches, virtually the same size as the item under discussion (55.5 x 70 cm):
https://www.ebay.com/itm/163938110376?hash=item262b790ba8:g:7ZAAAOSwFNBdx3uT
The Vlaminck connection was well spotted but I agree this must be a reproduction.
We've asked again for the picture to be examined in case it should be recatalogued as a reproduction.
Any examination feedback in the last 12 months to confirm whether the picture would need recatalogued?
Guillaume, I emailed NICS again today. There was no access to the building when I asked in 2021 and I've heard no more since.
The Events and Art Manager, Stormont Estate, has replied:
'I have searched our records and cannot find where it was donated from so that appears to be a dead end. The work is currently on loan but I have arranged to go and inspect it in the new year. As you suggested it should be easy to recognise if it is a print. I’ll get in touch after I have had a look.'