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Wallerant VAILLANT (Lille, 1623 – 1677, Amsterdam)
Portrait …
See original version (French)
34
-
Wallerant VAILLANT (Lille, 1623 – 1677, Amsterdam)
Portrait …
See original version (French)
Estimate €12,000 - €15,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Wallerant VAILLANT (Lille, 1623 – 1677, Amsterdam)
Portrait of Dr Philip Fontein
Canvas
Signed upper right: W Vaillant
72 x 60 cm – 28 3/8 x 23 5/8 in.
Portrait of Dr Philip Fontein, canvas, signed upper right
Provenance:
Ader Picard Tajan auction, 12 June 1987, lot 134; acquired at this auction by the current owner.
Description:
This portrait alone might perhaps sum up the work of Wallerant Vaillant, both in terms of the artist’s singularity and the context in which he operated. Born in Lille, it was in the flourishing city of Antwerp that Wallerant Vaillant joined the studio of Erasmus Quellin the Younger. There he learnt the art of portraiture, in which he would subsequently specialise.
Inspired by the Reformed Flemish style, the artist focuses solely on the essence of the subject. The dark background, the solemn atmosphere and the absence of artifice bear witness to this; Wallerant Vaillant seeks to capture nothing but the doctor himself with his brush. This doctor – and presumed patron of this painting – Philip Fontein, seeks to define himself through this portrayal. He is a man of science, a prominent bourgeois, affable and serious, far removed from artifice. Fontein’s entire social status is thus encapsulated in his position as a doctor, embodied in his attire.
But it is also in the enduring nature of this portrait that Vaillant’s oeuvre is encapsulated. The artist, having contributed greatly to the development of the mezzotint technique, known as the ‘noire’ style, would go on to reproduce this portrait. His engravings, whose technique allows for subtle nuances in shades of grey, were widely circulated throughout Northern Europe, and can now be found in the collections of the British Museum and the Rijksmuseum.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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