Poplar Paintings

Venetian painter (late 19th century) - Venice, view of the Riva degli Schiavoni with carnival masks. 30 x 40 cm without frame, 46 x 53 cm with frame. Oil on panel, in a carved and ...

Presented by Titan Fine Art, this painting formed part of a historic collection of an English aristocratic family, Lord and Lady Sandys at their magnificent baroque and Regency Grade-I listed family home, Ombersley Court. The house was among the most fascinating survivals of its kind in this country. The atmospheric interiors were distinguished above all for the works of art associated with two key moments in national history. The collection was acquired or commissioned over five centuries and remained at Ombersley Court until its recent sale, the first in 294 years. This portrait hung in the Grand Hall. This exquisite grand manner work is an evocative example of the type of portrait in vogue during a large part of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The artist has depicted an elegant lady, three quarter length and seated on porch with a luxurious crimson swag curtain by her side. The clothing – known as “undress” at the time, consists of red silk fastened at the front and sleeves by large gold and diamond jewels over a simple white chemise. In her lap she holds a blue wrap and in her other hand, at her chest, she clutches the end of a sheer gauzy scarf that has been draped around her body with the other end a type of headdress – this type of sheer scarf was often employed by Wissing in his portraits. The classical architecture signifies cultivation and sophistication and the luxurious swag curtain is a signifier of wealth. The portrait can be dated to circa 1680 based on the sitter’s attire, the “hurluberlu” hairstyle, and other portraits by Wissing using the same formula. This oil on canvas portrait has been well cared for over its life, which spans almost 350 years. Having recently been treated to remove an obscuring discoloured varnish, the finer details and proper colour can now be fully appreciated. Once owned by Evesham Abbey, the manor of Ombersley was acquired by the Sandys family in the early 1600s, when Sir Samuel Sandys, the eldest son of Edwin Sandys, Bishop of Worcester and later Archbishop of York, took a lease on the manor, before receiving an outright grant in 1614. The present house, Ombersley Court, dates from the time of Samuel, 1st Lord Sandys, between 1723 and 1730. The house itself is a fine example of an English Georgian country house set in rolling countryside and surrounded by Wellingtonias, planted to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo by Arthur Hill, 2nd Baron Sandys, who played a distinguished part in the battle and was one of the Duke of Wellington’s aides de camp. The Duke also stayed in the house and in the Great Hall, was the Waterloo banner which was brought to the house by Sir Arthur Hill, aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington, who succeeded his mother, the Marchioness of Downshire as 2nd Lord Sandys. Further Waterloo memorabilia are kettle drums from battle. The family had a strong tradition of military and political service, dating back to the 17th century, and this was also reflected in the fine collection of portraits and paintings in the house. In short, Ombersley represented a vital aspect of British history. The house and more especially the collection were of the greatest historical importance. Houses that have remained in the possession of the same family for as many as three centuries have become increasingly rare. Through this portrait, collectors have a chance to acquire a piece of British history and an evocative vestige of a glittering way of life, which is now gone. Much of the attractiveness of this portrait resides in its graceful manner and the utter beauty of the youthful sitter. Presented in a beautiful carved and gilded period frame, which is a work of art in itself. Willem Wissing was a Dutch artist who enjoyed a solid artistic training at The Hague under Arnold van Ravesteyn (c.1650-1690) and Willem Dougijns (1630-1697). He came to London in 1676 and most probably joined the studio or Sir Peter Lely as an assistant that same year. After Lely’s death in 1680 he effectively took over his business and he scaled the heights of patronage with extraordinary ease, creating an independent practise in 1687, and painted for very important aristocratic patrons. King Charles II was so impressed by a portrait Wissing painted of his son, the Duke of Monmouth, in 1683 that he commissioned his own portrait and that of his Queen Catherine...

Workshop/Circle of François de Troy (Toulouse 1645 – Paris 1730) Portrait of a young lady (probably Marianne de Cogny, epouse de Philippe-Emmanuel de Beaufort...

Saint George A follower of Giovanni Battista Cima, known as Cima da CONEGLIANO (Conegliano c. 1449 - Conegliano c. 1517) Oil on canvas 126 x 49 cm. Framed 143 x 65 cm. The painting...

Dutch/English artist Abraham Hulk the Younger (1851-1922) is most known for landscapes of the British countryside. This work is one of a pair (the second work is also available by s...

Abraham van CUYLENBROCH (1620-1658) Diana With Her Attendants in a Grotto 1651 signed oil on panel 12.2 in x 15.7 inches, inc. frame; 31 x 40 cm Provenance: Sale of Sotheby's Lo...

Agnolo di Cosimo, known as 'il Bronzino' (Monticelli of Florence, 1503 – Florence, 1572) The Holy Family with San Giovannino Oil on table (120 x 90cm. - I...

A very interesting set of five mid-20th-century Italian oils on copper. All five are classical landscape subjects and are signed Roger, though we don't know which artist with the n...

An incredibly atmospheric oil painting of two figures sitting chatting by a woodland stream . A rare work by this master of early 19th century English painting. A very handsome piece...

17th century Dutch old master painting "A summer day in Kleve in 1661" Our painting depicting a whimsical vibrant blue sky, was long believed to depict an Italian landscape. However...

This magnificent oil on panel portrait, presented by Titan Fine Art, is a splendid example of the sumptuous female portraits that were painted for members of the upper echelons of society during the early part of the 1600’s. The artist has rendered this portrait with meticulous attention to detail and the surface effects of the fine materials. The elaborate lace coif and cuffs are painstakingly delineated, as is the bold black damask, and sumptuous gold decoration of her skirt and stomacher, which is wonderfully preserved and quite remarkable considering the age of the work and the fact that darker pigments are particularly vulnerable to fading and wear. This work with its spectacular depiction of costume is of absolute quality, it can be rated as one of the best works in the artist’s oeuvre and as such it is an important and splendid example of Dutch portraiture. The Dutch Golden Age of painting was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military, and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. Dutch explorers charted new territory and settled abroad. Trade by the Dutch East-India Company thrived, and war heroes from the naval battles were decorated and became national heroes. During this time, The Dutch Old Masters began to prevail in the art world, creating a depth of realistic portraits of people and life in the area that has hardly been surpassed. The Golden Age painters depicted the scenes that their discerning new middleclass patrons wanted to see. This new wealth from merchant activities and exploration combined with a lack of church patronage, shifted art subjects away from biblical genres. Dress was a key component in portraits, and the exuberant attire reiterates the incredible wealth of this woman. The sitter will have visited the artist’s workshop and inspected examples on display. They would have chosen the size and the sort of composition and on that basis negotiated the price – which would have also been determined by the complexity of the clothing and the jewels that were to be depicted, and by the materials to be used. When all was considered, this portrait would have cost the sitter (or her husband) a substantial sum. The colour black was regarded as humble and devout yet at the same time refined and sophisticated and the most expensive colour of fabric to dye and to maintain. Citizens spent fortunes on beautiful black robes. Such uniformity must also have had a psychological side-effect and contributed to a sense of middle-class cohesion; the collective black of the well-to-do burgess class will have given its members a sense of solidarity. The colour was always an exciting one for artists and when this portrait was painted there were at least fifty shades of it, and as many different fabrics and accoutrements. Artists went to great lengths to depict the subtle nuances of the colour and the fabrics and textures and how they reflected light and it was an ideal background against which gold and crisp white lace could be juxtaposed to dramatic effect. The sitter is either a married women or a widower as is evident by the clothing that she wears and the position, toward her right, it is highly likely that this portrait was once a pendant that hung on the right-hand side of her husband’s portrait as was convention at the time. She wears a vlieger which was a type of sleeveless over-gown or cape worn by well-to-do married women in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Variations with short sleeves or high shoulder rolls are known. Sometimes sleeves were attached with aiglets, and often slits were made to allow belts or the hands to pass through. Three-piece vlieger costumes of this kind were standard items of clothing in portraits of the women of the civic elite in the period 1600-40 and was a variant of the Spanish ‘ropa’ and served as a trademark of well-to-do married burgher women. Girls and unmarried woman, including beguines, wore a bouwen (a dress with a fitted bodice and a skirt that was closed all round) instead. This clear distinction between apparel for married and unmarried women is clear not only from inventories and trousseau lists, but also from contemporary sources such as the Dutch Spanish dictionary published by Juan Rodrigues in 1634. In it, a bouwen is described as a ‘ropa de donzella’ (over-gown worn by a virgin) and a vlieger as a ‘ropa de casada’ (overgown worn by a married woman). It is striking how few women are depicted wearing a bouwen, unless they are part of a group, family or children’s portrait and it can therefore be assumed that independent portraits of unmarried women were seldom commissioned. It is also believed that the clothing worn in these portraits existed and were faithfully reproduced when cross-referenced with the few exact documents. These sources also demonstrate that clients wanted their clothing to be depicted accurately and with this in mind precious garments and jewels were often left in the painter’s studio. The prominent white lawn molensteenkraag (or millstone ruff) is held up by a wire supportasse and was reserved only for the citizens that could afford this luxurious item that often required 15 meters of linen batiste. The fabulous wealth of this sitter is also evident by the elaborate lace coif and cuffs which have been exquisitely depicted; lace was often literally copied by artists in thin white lines over the completed clothing. The gold bracelet with jewels is a type that was evidently fashionable as it is seen in a number of portraits during the 1610s and 1620. Clothing and jewellery were prized possessions and were often listed in inventories of estates and passed down from generation to generation. There were a great number of jewellers of Flemish origin working at all the courts and cities of Europe, competing with the Italians, and then the French, adapting themselves to the tastes and positions of their patrons and the raw materials available in the country where they worked. The fashion for jewels “in the Flemish style” succeeded that of the Italian style. Cornelis van der Voort, who was probably born in Antwerp around 1576, came to Amsterdam with his parents as a child. His father, a cloth weaver by trade, received his citizenship in 1592. It is not known who taught the young Van der Voort to paint, but it has been suggested that it was either Aert Pietersz or Cornelis Ketel. On 24 October 1598 Van der Voort became betrothed to Truytgen Willemsdr. After his first wife’s death he became betrothed to Cornelia Brouwer of Dordrecht in 1613. In addition to being an artist, Van der Voort was an art collector or dealer, or both. In 1607 he bought paintings from the estate of Gillis van Coninxloo, and after an earlier sale in 1610 a large number of works he owned were auctioned on 7 April 1614. Van der Voort is documented as appraising paintings in 1612, 1620 and 1624. In 1615 and 1619 he was warden of the Guild of St Luke. He was buried in Amsterdam’s Zuiderkerk on 2 November 1624, and on 13 May 1625 paintings in his estate were sold at auction. Van der Voort was one of Amsterdam’s leading portrait painters in the first quarter of the 17th century. Several of his group portraits are known. It is believed that he trained Thomas de Keyser (1596/97-1667) and Nicolaes Eliasz Pickenoy (1588-1650/56). His documented pupils were David Bailly (c. 1584/86-1657), Louis du Pré...

Pierre Louis De La Rive (1753 Geneva - 1817 Geneva). Two countrywomen with a donkey. Oil on canvas, mounted, 27 x 20 cm (visible size), 37 x 31 (frame), monogrammed "P.R." at lower right. About the artwork De La Rive has taken the typical scenes of Dutch landscape genre paintings...