LOT DETAILS

Materials:

oil on canvas

Size Notes:

unframed: 65.5 x 77.9 cm.; 25¾ x 30? in. The following condition report is provided by Henry Gentle who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: The painting is lined. The lining is of some age and has a degraded tacking edge. There is a loss of tension. The paint layer is raised in some areas and unstable, with minor recent loss, as can be detected to the lower left and lower right shadows in raking light. The paint layer is generally well preserved with vigorous and energetic brushwork visible to the sky and jacket, and preserved impasted highlights, especially the details of the gold chain. Some paint thinness to the more vulnerable areas, such as the moustache, beard and hair can be seen, along with minor abraded loss to the dark shadow of the sitter’s proper right hand and the sunflower where canvas texture has become visible. Removal of the degraded and discoloured varnish would improve tonal variation and reveal paint that retains chromatic intensity. Many areas of the painting are in a good preserved condition.

Description:

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Condition:

unframed: 65.5 x 77.9 cm.; 25¾ x 30? in. The following condition report is provided by Henry Gentle who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: The painting is lined. The lining is of some age and has a degraded tacking edge. There is a loss of tension. The paint layer is raised in some areas and unstable, with minor recent loss, as can be detected to the lower left and lower right shadows in raking light. The paint layer is generally well preserved with vigorous and energetic brushwork visible to the sky and jacket, and preserved impasted highlights, especially the details of the gold chain. Some paint thinness to the more vulnerable areas, such as the moustache, beard and hair can be seen, along with minor abraded loss to the dark shadow of the sitter’s proper right hand and the sunflower where canvas texture has become visible. Removal of the degraded and discoloured varnish would improve tonal variation and reveal paint that retains chromatic intensity. Many areas of the painting are in a good preserved condition.

Literature:

O. Millar, in Van Dyck. A complete catalogue of the paintings, S. Barnes et al. (eds), New Haven and London 2004, p. 432, under no. IV.4.

Provenance:

Henry Joseph Buchan (1813–1891), Wilton House, Bedford Place, Southampton; Thence by inheritance to Miss Buchan, West Sussex, by whom gifted in 1955 to Dr Gerald Smyth (d. 1999); Thence by inheritance to the present owners.