PROVENANCE
Prints and a Few Drawings from Great Collections of the Past

  1. Master MR, Christ on the Cross
  2. Dürer, St. Bartholomew
  3. Dürer, Christ Before Caiaphas
  4. Raimondi, Philosophy
  5. Raimondi, Façade with Caryatids
  6. Beham, Job Conversing
  7. Beham, Satyr Sounding a Horn
  8. Beham, Peasant Couple Walking
  9. Caraglio, Martyrdom of St. Paul
  10. Aldegrever, Standard Bearer
  11. Pencz, Feeding the Hungry
  12. Pencz, Artemisia Preparing
  13. Falconetto, Tomb Surmounted
  14. Claesz, St. Peter Seated
  15. Treu, Noble Dancers
  16. Master FP, Hercules Killing
  17. Brun, February
  18. Solis, Arithmetria
  19. de Bruyn, The Circumcision
  20. Sadeler, Virgin and Child
  21. Goltzius, A Young Man
  22. Matham, The Planets
  23. Brizio, Extensive Landscape
  24. van de Velde, Fête Villageoise
  25. van de Velde, Backgammon
  26. van Uyttenbroek, Tobias
  27. van Uyttenbroek, Bacchus
  28. Rembrandt, The Small Lion Hunt
  29. Hollar, Woman with Headdress
  30. Saftleven, Dutch Peasant
  31. Ostade, Bust of a Peasant
  32. Stoop, A Grazing Horse
  33. Fyt, Set of Animals
  34. Bega, The Three Drinkers
  35. Anonymous, Landscape
  36. Nanteuil, Charles Benoise
  37. Nanteuil, Cardinal Mazarin
  38. Nanteuil, Pierre Seguier
  39. van Vliet, St. Jerome Sitting
  40. Cossin, Ornament Design
  41. Sirani, St. Eustace
  42. Somer, Hagar and Ishmael
  43. Daullé, La Muse Clio
  44. Tiepolo, The Holy Family
  45. MacArdell, Hannah, Mrs. Horneck
  46. Laurie, Elizabeth, Dutchess
  47. Denon, Village Scene
  48. Charlet, Les Français
  49. Pieraccini, Holy Family
  50. Daumier, Y n’y a rien comm’
  51. Daubigny, Les Ruines du Chateau
  52. Daubigny, Lever de Lune
  53. Meryon, Le Petit Pont
  54. Rops, La Poupée du Satyre
  55. Whistler, Old Hungerford Bridge
  56. Legros, Un Coin de Rivière
  57. Buhot, Frontispice
  58. Forain, La Rencontre
  59. Pennell, Hampton Court Palace
  60. Delâtre, Silhouette de Femme



PROVENANCE

Master MR, Christ on the Cross
Dürer, St. Bartholomew
Dürer, Christ Before Caiaphas
Raimondi, Philosophy
Raimondi, Façade with Caryatids
Beham, Job Conversing
Beham, Satyr Sounding a Horn
Beham, Peasant Couple Walking
Caraglio, Martyrdom of St. Paul
Aldegrever, Standard Bearer
Pencz, Feeding the Hungry
Pencz, Artemisia Preparing
Falconetto, Tomb Surmounted
Claesz, St. Peter Seated
Treu, Noble Dancers
Master FP, Hercules Killing
Brun, February
Solis, Arithmetria
de Bruyn, The Circumcision
Sadeler, Virgin and Child
Goltzius, A Young Man
Matham, The Planets
Brizio, Extensive Landscape
van de Velde, Fête Villageoise
van de Velde, Backgammon
van Uyttenbroek, Tobias
van Uyttenbroek, Bacchus
Rembrandt, The Small Lion Hunt
Hollar, Woman with  Headdress
Saftleven, Dutch Peasant
Ostade, Bust of a Peasant
Stoop, A Grazing Horse
Fyt, Set of Animals
Bega, The Three Drinkers
Anonymous, Landscape
Nanteuil, Charles Benoise
Nanteuil, Cardinal Mazarin
Nanteuil, Pierre Seguier
van Vliet, St. Jerome Sitting
Cossin, Ornament Design
Sirani, St. Eustace
Somer, Hagar and Ishmael
Daullé, La Muse Clio
Tiepolo, The Holy Family
MacArdell, Hannah, Mrs. Horneck
Laurie, Elizabeth, Dutchess
Denon, Village Scene
Charlet, Les Français
Pieraccini, Holy Family
Daumier, Y n’y a rien comm’
Daubigny, Les Ruines du Chateau
Daubigny, Lever de Lune
Meryon, Le Petit Pont
Rops, La Poupée du Satyre
Whistler, Old Hungerford Bridge
Legros, Un Coin de Rivière
Buhot, Frontispice
Forain, La Rencontre
Pennell, Hampton Court Palace
Delâtre, Silhouette de Femme
Click on an image above or a title at the left to view the work.

 

The provenance of a work of art is a statement of where that object has resided in the past. With prints and drawings that information is sometimes inscribed on an old mat, but most often is indicated by specific marks on the front or back of the print: hand written or stamped, sometimes tiny, smudged or faded, signatures, monograms, coats of arms, mottos, natural or geometric figures and the like. Many of these marks have been researched, collected and published in a two volume work, by Frits Lugt, called “Marques de Collections.” Lugt’s pioneering work is being continued today on the website www.marquesdecollections.fr, though there are many marks still waiting to be identified.
 
Why is this important? Several reasons. First of all, the study of collectors and collections is in itself interesting. Just who was this man who owned this print? What in it spoke to him? He may have been documenting German or Dutch culture for its own sake, or he may have been an artist who had something to learn from the print. Kings, nobles, businessmen and artists all collected prints and drawings. That is to say, some of them did, and the fact that they did, while others did not, tells us something about them: essentially, that there was a cultured mind there, aware of religious themes, mythology, geography, history and distinguished figures of the past and present.
 
Second, while the statement that a print passed through such-and-such an auction house five years ago is of little or no significance, the fact that it belonged at one time to a nineteenth-century knowledgeable collector is, among other things, an indication of quality. Many prints that are rare today were not so rare one or two hundred years ago and, given that many collectors then were wealthy, or well connected, or both, the impressions they bought were generally the best available. One rarely finds a good collector’s mark on an inferior impression and, if one does, it may well be an indication of the extreme rarity of that print. The impression was the best one available.
 
So, an exhibit of works from earlier collections offers a window onto an earlier era, one in which the accumulation of prints and drawings was believed to be an accumulation of knowledge, for prints and drawings had intellectual content. It is so different today. The market is also different. But it is quite amazing that so many of these prints and drawings are purchasable today and many at prices – considering the devaluations of all currencies over the years – not much different from what they were then.