Barend van Orley and Kees Van Dongen: From Flanders to Parisian Modernity

Dominating a group reminiscent of a cabinet of curiosities was the Virgin and Child with an Angel, painted in c. 1540 by the studio of Barend van Orley (see photo). This panel (62.5 x 47.7 cm/24.6 x 18.8 in) illustrates all the characteristics typical of the Brussels artist. He was highly successful, painting portraits of Charles V, Ferdinand I, Emperor of Germany, and Isabella, Queen of Denmark before being appointed court painter to Margaret of Austria, Governor-General of the Netherlands, in 1518. This moving Mother and Child garnered €56,250.

A very different style appeared with Kees Van Dongen's broadly brushed watercolor and black ink wash Conversation dans la rue (Conversation in the Street, see photo). The drawing, signed on the bottom left and marked "Pharmacie" on the back, clearly from the 1900s (27 x 21.5 cm/10.6 x 8.5 in. at sight), fetched €26,250.

The objet d'art section included a fine late 18th-century French violin marked "J.N. Leclerc", with its original label dated 1773 and another handwritten label in ink: "racomodé par Renaudin à Paris 1784"... The instrument (l. 35.7 cm/14 in), in fine condition, raised an impressive €40,625. A gold and silver jewelry set from around 1925, consisting of a necklace, two motifs and another articulated necklace, all set with diamonds (gross weight: 153.9 g/5.43 oz), garnered €20,625. Then a Panthère pêchant (Panther Fishing) captured in bronze by José-Maria David in 2000 and cast by Chapon (67 x 80 cm/26.4 x 31.5 in), landed €27,375. Meanwhile a real stuffed polar bear (150 x 225 x 80 cm/59 x 88.6 x 31.5 in) fetched €7,500 the day before.