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David TENIERS LE JEUNE (1610-1690) and Lucas van Uden (1595-…
See original version (French)
66
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David TENIERS LE JEUNE (1610-1690) and Lucas van Uden (1595-…
See original version (French)
Estimate €10,000 - €15,000
Voluntary lot
Description
David TENIERS LE JEUNE (1610-1690) and Lucas van Uden (1595-1672)
The Avenue of the Castle
Oil on canvas.
H_75,8 cm L_53,3 cm
Minor restorations, faded.
In an antique carved and gilt wood frame.
Provenance :
-Gustave Rothan (1822-1890), his sale after death, Galerie George Petit,
Paris, 29-31 May 1890, Maitre Chevallier, lot 109
-Edgard-Salomon Stern (1854-1937) and Marguerite Stern née Fould (1866-
1956), Château de Villette
-Confiscated at Château de Vilette by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg
following the German occupation of France (ERR inv. ST25)
-Transferred to the Louvre, Paris, on 13 January 1940
-Transferred to the Jeu de Paume, Paris
-Transferred to Buxheim for restoration in December 1944
-Returned to France in March 1946, then returned to Marguerite Stern on 19
April 1946
-By descent Maurice Stern (1888-1962) and Alice Stern née
Goldschmidt (1906-2008)
-Then by descent into the Stern family
-Private collection in Paris
Exhibition :
Paris, Orangerie des Tuileries, Le Cabinet de l'Amateur, February-April 1956,
n°96 (like David Teniers and Lucas van Uden).
Related works:
-David Terniers and Lucas van Uden, The Luncheon of the Villagers, circa 1660,
oil on panel, 42 x 58 cm, Prado Museum, inv. P01801.
-Lucas van Uden and unknown, A Lively Alley, 74 x 85 cm, former
Schefeningen Collection, 1956, location unknown.
-Meindert Hobbema, The Middelharnis Alley, 1689, oil on canvas, 103.5 x
141 cm, Nationale gallery de Londres, inv. NG830.
David Teniers the Younger belonged to one of the most important dynasties of Flemish
Flemish painters of the seventeenth century. Son of David Teniers the Elder and son-in-law of
son-in-law of Jan Brueghel the Elder through his marriage to Anna Brueghel, he quickly became
quickly established himself as one of the major artists of the Flemish Golden Age. His
his genre scenes, his depictions of fairs, country homes and amateur
and amateur collections were immensely popular throughout
throughout Europe. His talent earned him an appointment as court painter to the Archduke
Archduke Leopold-Guillaume of Habsburg, for whom he also became curator of
of his collections.
Our painting is a perfect illustration of one of the distinctive features of 17th-century Flemish painting
the practice of collaboration between specialist artists.
artists. In major artistic centres such as Antwerp, painters often worked
frequently worked with several hands, each one specialising in his or her own
field of excellence. The most famous examples are the collaborations
between Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder, or those between
Frans Francken, Jan Brueghel and Hendrick van Balen.
In our work, Lucas van Uden painted the landscape, while David
Teniers the Younger animates the composition with his figures. This division of
allowed the best specialists in each genre to work together on the same painting.
specialists in each genre. Teniers had a particularly close relationship
with Lucas van Uden, whose vast, luminous landscapes and deep, perspective
deep compositions full of perspective.
At the time, Lucas van Uden was one of the great Antwerp landscape painters of the
generation that succeeded Jan Brueghel the Elder and Joos de Momper. His
work is characterised by a remarkable mastery of space, expansive horizons
and a clear light that already foreshadows certain developments in the
landscape of the second half of the century. Heir to the Flemish
Flemish panoramic tradition, he developed a more personal language combining a decorative sense
decorative sense, careful observation of nature and the influence of Rubens.
The collaborations between Van Uden and Teniers were numerous and particularly sought-after.
particularly sought-after. The Luncheon of the Villagers in the Prado
Museum is one of the finest examples of this association. In
In these works, Teniers' figures blend naturally into Van Uden's landscape
by Van Uden, creating a remarkable harmony.
Our painting also belongs to a pictorial tradition that was particularly
particularly popular in the southern Netherlands: that of tree-lined alleys and
paths. For the artists, these compositions were a veritable exercise in
an exercise in perspective virtuosity. This research found its
Meindert Hobbema's famous masterpiece, The Middelharnis Lane
of Middelharnis (1689), now in the National Gallery in London.
Cornelis Hofstede de Groot considered this work to be the greatest Dutch
Dutch landscape after Rembrandt's The Syndics of the Clothmakers' Guild.
Dr Fred G. Meijer suggests that our painting dates from the 1640s on the basis of the
the costumes of the figures. This dating
corresponds to a particularly productive period in Teniers' career,
at the height of his artistic powers.
The provenance of our painting is also of historical interest. The
The painting appeared in Gustave Rothan's famous sale in 1890, one of the most
one of the most prestigious sales of Old Masters held in France at the end of the
the end of the nineteenth century. It was reproduced in the catalogue, a sign of the importance accorded to it.
importance accorded to it.
The work then joined the collection of the great banker and patron Edgard-Salomon Stern, a major figure in the world of collecting.
Salomon Stern, a major figure in Parisian collecting during the Belle Époque.
Kept at the Château de Villette, it was seized by the Nazi authorities.
the Jeu de Paume before being sent to the Buxheim depot in Germany in 1944 to be
Buxheim depot in Germany for restoration.
Returned to its rightful owners in 1946, this painting remains a precious witness to the history of the art market.
precious witness to the history of the European art market, and to the spoliations that struck
the great French collections during the Second World War.
the Second World War.
Our painting is reproduced in the archives of the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter
Rosenberg under inventory number ST.25. Photographs of the painting at the time
at the time of its spoliation.
We would like to thank Dr. Fred G. Meijer for confirming the full attribution of our painting to Teniers and Van Uijer.
of our painting to Teniers and Van Uden and for proposing a date in a written communication
written communication dated 19 April 2026.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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