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Lot Essay
This exceptional newly discovered Allegory of Tulipomania can be added to a group of so called singeries painted by Jan Brueghel II. These satires, which refer to the economic folly of the previously valuable plants depict speculators as brainless monkeys in contemporary upper-class dresses. Three other paintings of Jan Brueghel are known which also refer to the Tulipomania that seized the Netherlands in the first half of the 17th century. Two of them are closely related in composition; the Allegory of Tulipomania in the Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, which can be dated in the early 1640s (see K. Ertz, Jan Brueghel the Younger, Freren, 1984, p. 395, no. 233) and another version offered at Kinsky, Vienna, 8 November 2011, lot 7 (EUR 92,500); both satires take place in front of a huge loggia to the left, where monkeys are exchanging contracts. The third Tulipomania with monkeys was with De Jonkheere (see De Jonckheere Gallery catalogue 2008-2009, no. 36) and transfers the tulip trade into the interior of a loggia.
The present lot shows monkeys exchanging contracts in front of an inn with an open front to the right. The inn sign is inscribed 'Den Viseroy' which refers to an expensive tulip, known as "the Viceroy". At the peak of the Tulipomania, in February 1637, one single bulb of the 'Viceroy' sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman. In that month this rampant price speculation came to an end. Tulip bulb contract prices collapsed abruptly and the trade of tulips ground to a halt.
Breughel takes care to meticulously paint each stage of the strange trade; the bulbs are weighed, money is counted, a sale is concluded with a handshake and a business dinner takes place in an inn. While one monkey, whose sword indicates that he is well-to-do, successfully concludes a deal, another disgruntled buyer shows his fists and brandishes a purse full of money. One more monkey, with an owl on his shoulder symbolizing madness, is reading through a sales contract. Like Breughel's other satires on the Tulipomania, this painting shows the consequence of the crash; on the left a speculator who has not paid his debts is hauled off in the presence of a crying monkey.
Viewed in the context of the Allegories of the Topsy-Turvy world, the present work was painted like the other singeries of this group in the 40s. During this time Breughel became well known as a landscape painter, which is proven by the extremely delicate execution of the background. Jan Brueghel II executed a surprising and subtle painting that condemns with precision Dutch society of the time in its race to riches. Combining historical anecdote, moral satire and an undeniable aesthetic quality, Breughel has created a masterpiece worthy of the greatest masters of the genre of his age.
Offered with a certificate by Dr. Klaus Ertz (2 April 2013).
The present lot shows monkeys exchanging contracts in front of an inn with an open front to the right. The inn sign is inscribed 'Den Viseroy' which refers to an expensive tulip, known as "the Viceroy". At the peak of the Tulipomania, in February 1637, one single bulb of the 'Viceroy' sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman. In that month this rampant price speculation came to an end. Tulip bulb contract prices collapsed abruptly and the trade of tulips ground to a halt.
Breughel takes care to meticulously paint each stage of the strange trade; the bulbs are weighed, money is counted, a sale is concluded with a handshake and a business dinner takes place in an inn. While one monkey, whose sword indicates that he is well-to-do, successfully concludes a deal, another disgruntled buyer shows his fists and brandishes a purse full of money. One more monkey, with an owl on his shoulder symbolizing madness, is reading through a sales contract. Like Breughel's other satires on the Tulipomania, this painting shows the consequence of the crash; on the left a speculator who has not paid his debts is hauled off in the presence of a crying monkey.
Viewed in the context of the Allegories of the Topsy-Turvy world, the present work was painted like the other singeries of this group in the 40s. During this time Breughel became well known as a landscape painter, which is proven by the extremely delicate execution of the background. Jan Brueghel II executed a surprising and subtle painting that condemns with precision Dutch society of the time in its race to riches. Combining historical anecdote, moral satire and an undeniable aesthetic quality, Breughel has created a masterpiece worthy of the greatest masters of the genre of his age.
Offered with a certificate by Dr. Klaus Ertz (2 April 2013).