When speaking of still-life art, a name that never fails to impress is Clara Peeters, a prominent Flemish still-life painter characterized by her banquet and breakfast still-life works. Peeters is not only an icon of the 17th century but is also a figure who faded in the written context, making her a rare artist. However, all of this never impacted the value of her works, and recognizing that, Sotheby’s brokers its sale at the Old Master and 19th Century Paintings Evening Auction on July 2. Estimated at £1.2 million to £1.8 million ($1.6 million–$2.4 million), this masterpiece returns to the stage after over three decades.
Speaking to Artnet, George Gordon, co-chairman of Sotheby’s worldwide department for Old Master paintings and drawings, said,
“It’s unique partly because it includes what I think is a self-portrait. We don’t know for sure, because we don’t know what she looked like,”
“It’s certainly allegorical figure of vanity, and I think it’s most likely that it incorporates her own features because it’sunlikely to be a formal portrait of anybody else.”
Finding Peeters’ work in an auction is quite a rare event, and when we look at the uniqueness of this portrait, it becomes quite the headline of the day. Clara has been known for her hair-breadth brushwork and fluidity in painting various compositions with varying subjects, but no lack of precision can be noted. Clara might be a product of superior taste in painting at the time, and it is believed that the painter received her training from Osias Beert, but it should be noted that her father played an important role in her professional success as the painter did not have to marry at the twenties like many girls of the time. Instead, Clara married Hendrick Joosen at forty-five. Throughout this age, the artworks she worked on saw a change of style and subjects as her taste evolved to be modern – you may find her later works to have humble food and drinks, such as bread, cheese, olives, pretzels, and beer.
If we take a look at past auctions of Peeters’ work, in an attempt to examine her recent market track record, this auction can shatter the 27-year-old auction record for the artist – $1.6 million at French auction house Ferri Scp. on June 3, 1998.It is only time that will inform us by how much though as estimates can sometimes be broken, especially when a work like Vanitas style self portrait comes on auction.
Featured Image: Self Portrait Clara Peeters; Clara Peeters, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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