Van Dycks everywhere...
January 6 2012
Picture: Elite Auction
A reader writes:
In response to your latest post, here's another slightly more interesting example [above] of exactly the same subject that I stumbled across recently!
The catalogue states:
Antique oil painting on board in gold frame depicting a man with mustache. 18th/19th century. Authenticity guaranteed. $300-400.
I'm note quite sure what they're guaranteeing here - that he has a mustache? Anyway, well spotted - it is indeed a copy of Van Dyck's self-portrait, in this case a lost original painted in the mid 1630s. Hard to say from the photos, but I would say the copy dates from the 18th Century. Someone rescue him, please! A portrait of Van Dyck is top of my wish-list, but I'm going to pass on this one, and keep my powder dry for something a little better. Happily, I get to see the real thing every day. Unhappily, I know I can never afford it...
