Lot 353: Philippe de Momper (Antwerp 1598 - 1634) Ruined

Philippe de Momper (Antwerp 1598 - 1634) Ruined landscape with a horseman, oil on panel, 48.5 x 93.5 cm, framed, (Wo) Certificate: Dr. Klaus Ertz, Lingen, 17 February 2008. Dr. Ertz writes: "I know the painting Rocky Landscape with Ruins and a View into a Valley in the original. Having dealt with it extensively, I am convinced that this is an autograph work by the Flemish painter Philipp de Momper (Antwerp, born in 1598 and died in 1634). Its condition can be said to be very good. ... The thickly applied paint makes the figures and rocks stand out prominently. The white highlights applied to the edges of the rocks during the final stage of the work process are well preserved. ... In my opinion, the painting in question belongs to the so-called "Treviso group" - subsuming paintings that can be assigned to a specific artist from the immediate circle of Josse de Momper the Younger. In my book about Josse de Momper the Younger, published in 1986, I gave this group to Josse's son, Philippe de Momper, who mu t have been familiar with his father's work like no other artist. Much in Philippe's work is reminiscent of his father's art. Nevertheless he is an autonomous painter who incorporated his own inventions and contemporary developments into his works. He executed all subjects with a personal hand that makes him unmistakeable." Dr. Ertz compares the present painting with compositions preserved at the Staatliche Museen in Schwerin, the Schäffer Gallery in Berlin, and the Gemäldegalerie der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen in Dresden. Dr. Ertz dates our painting to the late 1620s.