A collection of paintings, ranging from the 15th to the 19th century, was auctioned by Artcurial in Paris on 30 April for nearly €14 million.
Titled 'Between Heaven & Earth, Masterpieces from a French Collection,' the set of around 40 works included several paintings from the Brueghel dynasty, originally from Brussels.
Four oil-on-panel works by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, as well as two copper paintings by his brother Jan Brueghel the Elder, sold for a total of €6.2 million. Among them, 'The Harvest, Allegory of Summer' fetched nearly €3 million after a five-minute bidding process. This painting was showcased to the public in Brussels in January before being sold in Paris. Another of Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s works, 'The Preaching of Saint John the Baptist,' sold for €1.6 million.
A triptych by Vrancke van der Stockt, another painter from Brussels, also surpassed the million-euro mark.
This “extremely rare” collection was assembled in the early 2000s by a couple of collectors. It consisted of paintings created in the former Spanish Netherlands during the 15th and 16th centuries, in the Flanders region during the 17th century, and in Brittany in the 19th century. Nearly 95% of the lots offered found buyers.
Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625) and Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564-1638), famed for his village and festive scenes, were both sons of Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525-1569), a major figure in Flemish painting alongside Jan van Eyck, Hieronymus Bosch, and Peter Paul Rubens.
