Beschreibung:

Follower of Sir Anthony van DyckOriental on Horseback
oil on paper, mounted on canvasunframed: 41.5 x 33.3 cm; 16⅜ x 13⅛ in.framed: 63.5 x 55.2 cm.; 25 x 21¾ in.Condition reportThe sheet of paper has been laid onto canvas which has been lined. The paint surface is stable and is covered in a thick layer of varnish which has left visible streaks. The varnish layer also contains white blotches most evident in the upper half of the picture. The paint surface is well preserved with signs of impasto preserved throughout. Inspection under ultraviolet light shows no obvious and visible signs of restoration, suggesting the work is rather untouched. Overall the work is in a good condition.
The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colors and shades which are different to the lot's actual color and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation. The condition report is a statement of opinion only. For that reason, the condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS ONLINE CONDITION REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE/BUSINESS APPLICABLE TO THE RESPECTIVE SALE.Saleroom NoticePlease note that the attribution should read as follows, Follower of Sir Anthony van Dyck and not as stated in the printed catalogue.ProvenancePossibly Jan Wildens (1586–1653) and thence by descent to his son;
Possibly Jeremias Wildens (1621–1653), Antwerp, 1653 (listed in his posthumous inventory as 'Een peert met eenen Teurck, van van Dyck' or 'Eenen Teurck te peert, van van Dyck');
Ernest C. Innes, London;
His posthumous sale, London, Christie's, 13 December 1935, lot 150 (as Sir P. P. Rubens) to Fischmann for 82 guineas;
With Norbert Fischmann, London, in 1941;
With Paul Kantor Gallery, Beverly Hills;
Norton Simon (1907–1993), Los Angeles;
His sale ('From the Private Collection of Norton Simon'), New York, Parke Bernet Galleries, 7–8 May 1971, lot 212a (as Sir Anthony Van Dyck for $4,900;
 Where purchased by the current owner.LiteraturePossibly F.J. Van Den Branden, 'Verzameling van schilderijen te Antwerpen', in Antwerpsch Archievenblad, vol. 21, Antwerp 1864, p. 385 ('Een peert met eenen Teurck, van van Dyck' or 'Eenen Teurck te peert, van van Dyck');
Tancred Borenius, 'Addenda to the Work of Van Dyck', in Burlington Magazine, December 1941, p. 200, reproduced plate II B (as Van Dyck);
E. Larsen, L'opera completa di Anton van Dyck 1626-1641, Milan 1980, pp. 92–3, no. 583 (as Van Dyck);
E. Larsen, The Paintings of Anthony Van Dyck vol. 2, Freren 1988, pp. 298–299, no. 753, reproduced (as Van Dyck).Catalogue noteRevealed by Borenius as a 'brilliant, almost monochrome sketch in oils' in The Burlington Magazine in 1941, this grisaille on paper relates to a fully worked up painting preserved in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich.1 The large scale oil on canvas, said to depict a Polish Cossack, is now ascribed by the museum to the Circle of Van Dyck. It was Borenius too who identified a remarkably similar horse found in the Van Dyck's treatment of the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian: one also at the Alte Pinakothek; and the other at the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, albeit with a different rider.2
In terms of quality, the grisaille compares closely to two paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.3 These two studies of riders with their horses, painted directly onto prepared panels, are now attributed to Van Dyck rather than given to the artist in full. A comparison between the handling suggests that the New York pictures are handled with a more fluid touch, particularly noticeable in the white highlights.
When this grisaille was last sold at auction in 1971 the work was identified as having been in the collection of Jeremias Wildens (1621–1653), son of the famous Antwerp landscape painter Jan Wildens (1586–1653). The 1653 posthumous inventory of Jeremias's house in the city's Lange Nieuwstraete does list 'Een peert met eenen Teurck, van van Dyck' [a horse with a Turk by Van Dyck] and 'Eenen Teurck te peert, van van Dyck' [A Turk on a Horse by Van Dyck].4 Although it is not possible to say definitively whether these pictures might be the same as the one offered here, the inventory has been noted for its painstaking accuracy where attribution is concerned.
Oriental figures appear infrequently in the artist's recognised oeuvre, with the magnificent portraits of Sir Robert and Teresia Shirley in fancy dress at Petworth House being the most notable exceptions. It seems likely that it was Rubens who influenced Van Dyck in the realm of equestrian studies. Rubens created a series of equestrian studies and sketches during the 1610s, of which several studio copies survive in the Royal Collection and formerly in the Berlin Gemäldegalerie respectively.5 It has been suggested that these studies might have been used by the studio to be incorporated into fully developed portraits, historical, religious and mythological scenes.
1 Oil on canvas, 154 x 122 cm., Inventory number4816; https://www.sammlung.pinakothek.de/en/artwork/01G13avxkE/anthonis-van-dyck/ein-reiter-der-polnische-kosak2 Oil on canvas, 229 x 159 cm., Inventory number 371; https://www.sammlung.pinakothek.de/en/artwork/8eGVDw1xWQ/anthonis-van-dyck/martyrium-des-hl-sebastian3 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436263; https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436264.4 F.J. Van Den Branden, 'Verzameling van schilderijen te Antwerpen', in Antwerpsch Archievenblad, vol. 21, Antwerp 1864, p. 385 ('Een peert met eenen Teurck, van van Dyck' or 'Eenen Teurck te peert, van van Dyck');5 Oil on panel, 36 x 65.7cm, RCIN 404806. https://www.rct.uk/collection/search#/1/collection/404806/a-study-of-horsemen-in-three-positions; https://recherche.smb.museum/detail/870332/drei-reiter-in-verschiedenen-stellungen?language=de&question=rubens&limit=15&offset=40&controls=none&objIdx=44