Sotheby’s London Old Master Evening sale on December 5 will feature two royal portraits by Anthony Van Dyck.Sotheby’s London Old Master Evening sale on December 5 will feature two portraits of Charles I’s eldest children by Anthony Van Dyck — the eleven year-old Prince of Wales, (later King Charles II), and his nine year-old sister Mary, the Princess Royal, (later, the mother of the future king, William III). Among the very last works that Van Dyck painted for his royal patron, these charming, beautifully preserved portraits have been in the same private collection for nearly a century, and come fresh to market with a combined estimate of £2.6 million – £3.8 million.The auction house reveals that conceived and executed in the summer of 1641, months before the artist’s death in December the same year, it is possible that they are the portraits of the Prince and the Princess recorded as being among the possessions left in the artist’s studio in Blackfriars on his death.Alex Bell, Sotheby’s Co-Chairman of Old Master Paintings, says: “Van Dyck was responsible for creating the enduring images of Charles I and his court, and in these exceptionally well-preserved portraits of his two eldest children we see the artist use his painterly skill to acknowledge both the youth and the status of his royal subjects. The tumultuous history of the Stuart court has always captured people’s imagination and with the additional interest sparked by the fascinating exhibitions in London this year, it is particularly timely for these royal portraits, which are extremely rare to the market, to come up for sale.”Being ‘Principal Painter in Ordinary to Their Majesties’ in 1632, Van Dyck created numerous portraits of Charles I, his wife Henrietta Maria, and their children, many of which still remain in the British Royal Collection. Depicting his sitters with a relaxed elegance and understated authority, Van Dyck’s sophisticated style dominated English portraiture until the end of the 18th century.“Portraying the eldest child of Charles I, the Portrait of Charles II, when Prince of Wales (estimate: £2-3 million) is a unique likeness of the young prince and one of the finest royal portraits of Van Dyck’s late career. Depicting the future heir to the throne standing in armor with the ribbon of the Garter, with his left hand resting on the hilt of his sword and his right on the head of a stick, this portrait marks a distinct shift in the representation of the young Prince,” states the auction house.“Painted shortly after her marriage to Prince Willem of Orange, the Portrait of Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (estimate: £600,000 – 800,000), is the last of the artist’s likenesses of the young princess. It is one of three versions of the design, all most likely to have been painted in the summer of 1641,” adds the auction house.http://www.blouinartinfo.com/ Founder: Louise Blouin
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