Constant Artz: (1870 - 1951) / Augustina

In fact when you frequently visit auctions, the Constant 

Artz works with duck families keep popping up. In the 

beginning you always hope to get your hands on one of 

them at a reasonable price but having seen so many 

of them we were not that eager anymore to keep it. But 

well done, nothing wrong with this work. Most likely 

on panel as there is no craquelé. Work on panel. 

Dimensions: 40 / 53 cm.

Some details that can be observed here.

The environment is almost a copy of the way Jacob

Maris worked. Maris was the teacher of the father

of Constant Artz so no coincidence here!

Fresh colors and we liked the surroundings Artz

painted here.

The encadrement is copied from a frame that was

used in the past. Anyway tastefully done.

At first we were a bit concerned about the different way 

the name has been put on this work and especially the

prefix "A". But he did that later in time during his 

career. It also explains the very good condition.

Augustina

Portraits generally are no trade objects.

Who's girl is this? But anyway not badly done.

Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 35 - 45 cm.

Floris Arntzenius / Romek Arpad (1883 - 1960)

Though nicely done we tend not to believe this is a

genuine Floris Arntzenius who painted a lot of streetscenes

in The Hague. (Netherlands) Blacklight however

proved that the signature hasn't been placed later.

And the work itself seems to be made in the same

time though it simply hasn't the quality of a genuine
Arntzenius. Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 40 / 62 cm.

Romek Arpad

A still life by this Hungarian painter he is most known for:

With copper and glass objects of course. Romek Arpád was

a Hungarian painter who lived from 1883 to 1960. He 

studied at the art academy of Budapest and has devoted 

himself to painting of still lifes.

Some details of this painting.

He also really succeeded in painstakingly 

producing the copper colour used here 

But the red kettle with its' metal inner side isn't

less convincing!

Not hard to read luckily: His signature. And having seen 

more works from his hand we have to conclude that this

one is in great shape as more than often bitumen mixed 

with paint easily gives craquelé.

Autumn / George Averhals

This crayon immediately drew our attention as the typical

dampening in autumn has been depicted in a credible

way. This is all about colors and convincing as such.

Work on paper. Dimensions 35 / 45 cm.

Georges Averhals (Belgian, 1906-1975)

A fascinating still life made by this Belgium artist as it

has certain elements of the early impressionists as well

 as the allways popular realistic approach.

You have to observe this work quite accurate in order to

see what actually happens here and what was ment by the artist.

This painting has been shortened a bit and therefore

we discovered the signature after having removed the work

out of its'  frame. The signature is spot on and the work has

been made by Averhals in 1946 as this signature states.

Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 50 / 90 cm.

A picture of the signature we found on the edge of the frame

as the painting has been shortened with some 2 cm.

This signature comes from another painting done by

George Averhals. This time with his full first name but

the form of the characters is convincing.

His works are not that high estimated but on the

other hand another still life from his hands changed

hands for the sum of  800 euro's. Done in the same style

and with the same signature: G. Averhals.

H.F. Baeten

A rather big flower painting but done in a meticulous

style with a lot of beautiful detail in it. Not in a vase

but with a rather mysterious surrounding. Maybe not

everyones' cup of tea but I like it. Oil on canvas.

Dimensions: 70 / 70 cm.

The painter gave the flowers a kind of depth by

working with a kind of shade in them.

Not only his attention to detail deserves an observation;

The colors are challenging as well!

The signature clearly says: M. Baeten(S)

Basar ( 1901 - 1990 )

A watercolour by this Indonesian artist. Presented here is

the Salak in Western Java. Of course these kind of landscapes

have been made more than often but the mountain expression

and the sky has been done with craftsmanship.

Work on paper. Dimensions: 30 / 40 cm

Daniel Been ( 1885 - 1967 )

We liked this landscape with the light and shade parts

but bought it being anonymous. As we bought it in a local

auction house in Utrecht it is not a surprise this is in fact

from a Dutch painter: Daniel Beentjes. Depicted here is

Greoliere, just above Nice (France) Work on canvas.

Dimensions: 40 / 50 cm.

Later in his career he ofrten scratched his name in his works

as is the case here. He nearly always mentioned the place

he painted and the year ( in this case 1951) 

You are able to enlarge it by clicking on it

Jan van Beers / Jef De Belder

It is really not clear wether if this is a Jan van Beers.

On the left I seemed to have discovered a kind of

signature so I decided to give this work a "working"

title: Jan van Beers. It is obvious that this work was

damaged but not on very tricky spots and then I

give it a try myself. The result is here below.

In order to make a restoration that is resistant to

all kinds of influences you have to give it a good

"ground"  I did this with Gesso and after that I

started to paint. It remains questionable if it

is not better to have it maroufled as the condition

of the canvas is not great. I think this work

to be more than 100 years old. Oil on canvas.

Dimensions: 40 / 55 cm.

Jef De Belder

A nice still life by this Antwerp (Belgium) artist that is known

for his flower paintings. De Belder lived from 1871 - 1927)

Besides the roses the cloth on the table has been done with

great craftsmanship. Oil on Canvas. Dimensions: 50 / 60 cm.

This was difficult to photograph but it is after some investigations spot on!

Achille Bentos (1882 - 1964) / Denis Pierre Bergeret / Frits van den Berghe

Achille Bentos in fact was a pseudonym for Achille

de Maertelaere who was known for his house scenes.

As several members of his family lived in each others

neighborhood postmen more than often made mistakes

while delivering their post. Achille de Maertelaere

therefore used a friends name Bento to form his

pseudonym "Achille Bentos".We still have to 

investigate wether if this is a genuine work by this

painter. We tend not to believe so. His subjects

mostly were quite different and with persons.

The light in this work was appealing though I have

to admit I wasn't aware of it at first. The stronger points

are the way the trees are represented. Besides that

the darker parts in the mountain on the right have

been done credible. Oil on board.

Dimensions: 30 / 40 cm.

Just recently a family member of Achille de Martelaere

wrote me an e-mail about this painting. He stated that

Bentos hardly ever painted landscapes and therefore

this one with a genuine signature on it is a special one.

He made a beautiful website from the works  and

 that was partly the reason we sold it to him.

Denis Pierre Bergeret (1844 - 1910)

A rather big flower still life that has some small damages

in the upper and lower right hand corner. Bergeret was one

of the most popular still life painters in France in the second

half of the 19th century. He is still remembered as his work

even can be admired in Musee d'Orsay in Paris. This work

has been made on cardboard. Dimensions: 53 / 78,5 cm.

His skills are becoming painstakingly clear once you

are looking at the pictures of some details: His play

with light and shadow, the fresh and already withered

flowers on the right and at the bottom are showing

his great skills.

The vase doesn't play a very important role in this painting

but a close inspection of that element and in fact all the others

learns us that he in fact has an impressionistic approach in

his use of the paint. The result however remains very realistic.

Not only Light and dark , also the use of his colors

is deserving the spectators attention. E.G. the color red.

By clicking on this picture that has fainted over time you are 

able to see the name "Bergeret" . Remarkable as one must

realize that this painting has been sold as being anonymous.

We've fotoshopped this picture and that makes the signature

in fact very readable. The damage and the bad way someone 

has painted over it will be repaired. At first a good reparation 

of the lower right corner with the same cardboard. Then leveling

and finally painting that spot in the right color is a logical

follow up. Once repaired I will make another picture.

An invisible restauration is hardly possible as Denis Pierre 

Bergeret often worked with  multiple layers of different 

colors and you have to be very experienced to get the

same result apart from the fact that modern paint reacts

in another way. This picture shows the difference in a

very exaggerated way. In reality a spectator will hardly

notice it..... This one went to another art lover.

Frits van den Berghe

Still not recognized being an authentic

painting by this master. But during some period

of his life he used a strange dried blood colour

in his paintings that appears to be present here as well.

We call this one: "Conversation"

Work on paper. Dimensions: 30 / 40 cm.

Herman Petrus Berlage / Henryk Berlewi

For people living in the Netherlands Berlage is a very well 

known name. What most people do not know is that Berlage at 

first made a lot of drawings and paintings before he became world 

famous as an architect. Early works made by Berlage are quite 

rare. Work on paper. Dimensions: 32 / 49,5 cm.

As a lot of investigators (including me) are keen on

comparing signatures I'll add this one here. This detail

makes it clear that the former owner painted the frame 

while the work was in it. See therefore the golden paint

just beneath the signature. On the internet sketches

of his Italian journeys can be seen together with an

interesting story as well. The Amsterdam stads-archief

however mailed me that this work is from Herman J M

Berlage (1875 - 1943) and not the famous architect.

Henryk Berlewi

This polish artist did a lot of portraits besides being very important

for certain modern trends in the artworld. We did a lot of

investigations regarding this drawing and discovered that Berlewi

even is recorded in the Paul Piron though he is not a Belgian

at all. Work on paper. Dimensions: 22 / 28 cm.

The signature of Berlewi changed over time but this one suits

his signature around that time, compared to other drawings.

Moreover Berlewi was situated in Belgium and France between

1930 and 1938.

The name of the lady presented here has been written

on the back but what does it say exactly??

And another drawing by this artist made during his

stay in Belgium and France.

And the spot on signature on this work.

Work on paper. Dimensions: 30 / 40 cm

Berquin / John J. Bevort / Camprio

This work really attracts attention by its dimensions.

If you like africain markets or have ever been there,
a scene like this is immediately recognizable.

This really mirrors my memories of western Africa.

Work on canvas. Dimensions: 50 - 150 cm.

John Bevort

Mediterranian Seascape by John Bevort.

Though I regularly come across this kind of 

work by Peter Brouwer it wasn't clear to

me that Bevort did these kind of paintings as well.

His skills can be admired by carefully examining

the mountains in the background and the typical

orange flowers (and colour green of the leaves)

he catches so brilliant. Bevort painted these subjects
mostly under the name "Camprio". In fact it is quite
remarkable that both signatures are present on
this work. Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 40 / 60 cm. 

J.J. Bevort is still quite a popular painter in Holland

though it is a bit of production work to my believe.

This painting shows us the Place de l'Opera in Paris

and the way he suggest the Opera building in the background

yet betrays his skills which are certainly there.

Oil on canvas. Dimensions 50 - 60 cm.

Bevort made a lot of works with flying ducs: This

one suggesting the fall of the evening and with

a rich color palette he doesn't allways apply in

these kind of works. Yet subtle.

Observe the real deep color blue in this detail.

He liked to add some sunlight effects in his paintings.

The birch trees he was known for.

As Bevort wasn't a very modest man his signatures can

allmost immediately be recognized. But for this one

you have to search a bit: In the lower left corner.