Master Paintings and Sculpture Part II

Master Paintings and Sculpture Part II

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 541. The meeting of Jacob and Esau.

Property of a Private Collector

Gerrit Claesz. Bleker

The meeting of Jacob and Esau

Auction Closed

January 27, 09:38 PM GMT

Estimate

8,000 - 12,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Property of a Private Collector

Gerrit Claesz. Bleker

Haarlem circa 1593 - 1656

The meeting of Jacob and Esau


signed and dated lower left: CBleker f 1635 (CB in compendium)

oil on oak panel

panel: 20¼ by 31 in.; 51.4 by 78.7 cm.

framed: 30 by 40⅝ in.; 76.2 by 103.2 cm. 

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 28 April 1948, lot 100;
Where acquired by Ephraim I. Schapiro, London;
By whose Executors sold, London, Christie's, 29 June 1979, lot 3;
With Rafael Valls Ltd., London;
With Richard L. Feigen & Co., New York;
From whom acquired.

The Haarlem-born artist Gerrit Claesz. Bleker specialized as a painter of landscapes, battles and animals, as well as a draftsman and printmaker. By 1634, he was a member of the Guild of Saint Luke in Haarlem and was later active in Amsterdam (circa 1645-1654) and Groenendaal (circa 1653-1656).  Bleker likely trained with Claes Moeyaert, a Pre-Rembrandtist artist who also favored Old Testaments subjects like that illustrated on the present panel.  


This painting once formed part of the collection of Dr. Ephraim Schapiro, who was an ardent collector of Dutch paintings. He also owned another Old Testament painting by Bleker that depicted the separation of Abraham and Lot.1


1. Oil on panel, 56.9 by 79.4 cm, signed and dated 1637.  https://rkd.nl/explore/images/42452