Wetering Portrait

Here's a very fine portrait I acquired by the artist Johannes Embrosius van de Wetering de Rooij (1877-1972). Wetering was born in Woudrichem in the Netherlands and studied art in The Hague and eventually obtained a royal grant. He is most known for his landscapes and water scenes, which makes this portrait quite rare. In fact, the highest auction record I could find for him was not a landscape but instead a scene of people reading on a terrace. (click for larger image)

A photograph of Wetering in his studio.

Animal Farm

Picked up a terrific museum-quality painting that I am really excited about. It's oil on wood panel. The painting is not signed, and I have no idea who the artist is. I do know that the artist was incredibly skilled - the details are just stunning. Looks like a Dutch farm perhaps. I had originally estimated the date around 1940's - 1950's, but I was able to dig up a little information that shed some light on this piece.

The label on the back lists Borst and Clausen as the framer out of Manhattan in New York. I did a little research and Borst opened his shop in NY in 1886. In July of 1890, Borst retires and Clausen takes over the shop. Not sure how long the company stayed in business after that, but it seems this painting dates to the turn of the century - maybe 1910 or so. I'll have to do a little more digging on this one, so for now, I'll just enjoy looking at it! (click for larger image)