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Lot n° 6

Dirck Hals

Estimate :
10 000 - 15 000 EUR

Dirck Hals (1591 - Haarlem - 1656) - Noble company in the open air. Oil on wood, parquetted. (2nd half 1620s). 57.8 x 85.2 cm. Verso with various numberings. Framed. Dirck Hals, the youngest brother of the more famous Frans Hals (1580-1666), is primarily known for his depictions of cheerful garden parties ("Buiten-partijs") and society pieces with amorous allusions. An elegant group of guests has gathered outside at a laid table. While the wine is being chilled in a tub on the right, couples have already formed - people are making eyes at each other. Meanwhile, no one pays any attention to the food. The pâtés lie untouched on the tray, while the full wine glasses have been placed out of reach on a wall to the left. While the food rests, casual conversation seems to be in full swing. In the background, the terrace opens out onto a baroque park with a pavilion that invites you to take a stroll - preferably with your feet underneath you. The theme follows the tradition of the love gardens of the 16th century, in which young lovers amused themselves in charming surroundings. The present painting was part of the important collection of paintings by the Jewish textile manufacturer Richard Semmel (1875 Zobten, Silesia - 1950 New York), who lived in Berlin, had been an authorized signatory of the Arthur Samulon & Co. linen factory since 1902 and its sole owner since 1919. By the end of the 1920s, he had built up a collection that was in no way inferior to the great collectors of the Weimar Republic. It included works by Jan van Scorel, Dirck Hals, Bernardo Strozzi, but also by Paul Gauguin, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Vincent van Gogh. The art historian and museum director Dr. Paul Wescher wrote an appreciation of the paintings in the Semmel Collection in 1930 in: Pantheon, Monatsschrift für Freunde und Sammler der Kunst, vol. 5, January - June 1930, pp.275-278. In April 1933, after the Nazi Party seized power, Richard Semmel emigrated to Amsterdam and fled to New York via Chile and Cuba in 1940 before the Germans invaded the Netherlands, where he died in 1950. An agreement in accordance with the Washington Agreement was concluded with the heirs of Richard Semmel in April 2024. Literature: Britta Nehlsen-Marten, Dirck Hals 1591-1656. Œuvre and Development of a Haarlem Genre Painter, Weimar 2003, cat. no. 39, ill. 120. Provenance: Jacob Hecht, Berlin, auction VI, 17 and 18.3.1925, lot 215a; Richard Semmel (1875-1950), Berlin, Amsterdam, New York; Frederik Muller & Cie, Amsterdam, auction, 21.11.1933, lot 19, with illus. (according to Weltkunst, vol. VII, no. 52/53, 24.12.1933, p. 4, sold for 1450 fl; Art dealer Pieter de Boer, Amsterdam; Private collection, Würzburg; in family ownership through succession, Lower Franconia (since 1945); Private collection, Southern Germany. Taxation: differential taxation (VAT: Margin Scheme)

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