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Controversial painting linked to Da Vinci to be auctioned
Source: Agencies |
January 13, 2010, Wednesday
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Online Edition
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IS it or isn't it a painting by Leonardo da Vinci? That's the question that has been debated about "La Belle Ferronniere" for more than 80 years.
The portrait, thought to be of Lucrezia Crivelli who was a mistress of Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, was painted sometime before 1750 by a follower of the Renaissance master, according to Sotheby's, which will auction the work in New York.
The controversial work was the subject of a slander trial in the 1920s and two books. Adding to the intrigue, it has been locked away in a vault since about 1946.
Another version of the work in the Louvre museum in Paris is believed by experts and scholars to have been done by Leonardo da Vinci or one of his pupils.
"I don't think anyone knows who did the painting," said George Wachter, Sotheby's co-chairman of the Old Master Painting Worldwide about the painting that will be sold on Jan. 28.
"I personally do not believe this picture is by Leonardo," he added in an interview.
Harry Kahn, an American serviceman during World War One, and his French wife, Andree, received the painting in 1920 as a wedding gift from her grandmother. It was thought to be have been done by Da Vinci and authenticated by a French art expert.
But when Hahn later tried to sell it to the Kansas City Art Institute in the United States for US$250,000, Joseph Duveen, a leading art dealer in London, told a reporter who questioned him about the sale in a late-night telephone call that he was sure it was a fake.
"Although he couldn't know it at the time, this seemingly routine telephone call would unleash a decade long legal battle that brought not only Duveen himself, but also the very foundations of connoisseurship, under trial," according to Sotheby's.
The deal fell through and Hahn's wife sued Duveen for slander, claiming he was trying to control the art market. She asked for damages of US$500,000. INTRIGUE IN THE ART WORLD
The case riveted the art world. Although other art experts supported Duveen's assessment, because of a lack of scientific and archival evidence the jury failed to reach a verdict.
Duveen settled out of court before a retrial, paying Hahn's wife US$60,000.
Sotheby's expects the painting could sell for US$300,000 to US$500,000, but the price could go much higher.
"That is an estimate based on the fact that it is a very beautiful quality picture, a very captivating picture, (with) a very intense look on the lady's face," said Wachter.
Experts believe the portrait must date before 1750 because it contains lead-tin yellow, a color that was used in paintings up until the late 17th century.
"They lost the formula about that time and it is in this picture," Wachter explained.
Unlike the Louvre version, which was painted on a poplar panel, typical during Da Vinci's time, the Hahn painting was done on canvas, which was commonly used much later. Those features have led some experts to think it was done by a later European painter.
"It's got a quality and it's got age. The rest is up to people to decide," said Wachter.
John Brewer, the author of "The American Leonardo," which details the history of the painting since it arrived in the United States in the 1920s said it is a beautiful picture, so why does it matter if it is a Da Vinci.
"The interest in value in the picture is not simply if it is a Leonardo but in the fact that it has had such a contentious and interesting history," he said.
The portrait, thought to be of Lucrezia Crivelli who was a mistress of Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, was painted sometime before 1750 by a follower of the Renaissance master, according to Sotheby's, which will auction the work in New York.
The controversial work was the subject of a slander trial in the 1920s and two books. Adding to the intrigue, it has been locked away in a vault since about 1946.
Another version of the work in the Louvre museum in Paris is believed by experts and scholars to have been done by Leonardo da Vinci or one of his pupils.
"I don't think anyone knows who did the painting," said George Wachter, Sotheby's co-chairman of the Old Master Painting Worldwide about the painting that will be sold on Jan. 28.
"I personally do not believe this picture is by Leonardo," he added in an interview.
Harry Kahn, an American serviceman during World War One, and his French wife, Andree, received the painting in 1920 as a wedding gift from her grandmother. It was thought to be have been done by Da Vinci and authenticated by a French art expert.
But when Hahn later tried to sell it to the Kansas City Art Institute in the United States for US$250,000, Joseph Duveen, a leading art dealer in London, told a reporter who questioned him about the sale in a late-night telephone call that he was sure it was a fake.
"Although he couldn't know it at the time, this seemingly routine telephone call would unleash a decade long legal battle that brought not only Duveen himself, but also the very foundations of connoisseurship, under trial," according to Sotheby's.
The deal fell through and Hahn's wife sued Duveen for slander, claiming he was trying to control the art market. She asked for damages of US$500,000. INTRIGUE IN THE ART WORLD
The case riveted the art world. Although other art experts supported Duveen's assessment, because of a lack of scientific and archival evidence the jury failed to reach a verdict.
Duveen settled out of court before a retrial, paying Hahn's wife US$60,000.
Sotheby's expects the painting could sell for US$300,000 to US$500,000, but the price could go much higher.
"That is an estimate based on the fact that it is a very beautiful quality picture, a very captivating picture, (with) a very intense look on the lady's face," said Wachter.
Experts believe the portrait must date before 1750 because it contains lead-tin yellow, a color that was used in paintings up until the late 17th century.
"They lost the formula about that time and it is in this picture," Wachter explained.
Unlike the Louvre version, which was painted on a poplar panel, typical during Da Vinci's time, the Hahn painting was done on canvas, which was commonly used much later. Those features have led some experts to think it was done by a later European painter.
"It's got a quality and it's got age. The rest is up to people to decide," said Wachter.
John Brewer, the author of "The American Leonardo," which details the history of the painting since it arrived in the United States in the 1920s said it is a beautiful picture, so why does it matter if it is a Da Vinci.
"The interest in value in the picture is not simply if it is a Leonardo but in the fact that it has had such a contentious and interesting history," he said.
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