Oil on canvas, 30" by 25" and 1 1/4" wide frame, unsigned, the subject two ladies and a cradled baby, in a traditional European interior of the nineteenth century. Due to the stretcher and canvas weave, I believe this is actually a work by an American artist, who skillfully copied a master work from Europe (probably Italian, or, Tyrol area/South German?)...

Ferdinand Leeke (German 1859-1923)

The Art Critics

Oil-on-canvas, signed lower right, located “Meran” and dated “1906"

Painting Size: 39.5” x 31.75”
Frame Size: 48.25 ” x 40”

A painter of historical, genre and allegorical scenes, Leeke studied at the Munich Academy under Johann Herterich and with the Hungarian genre and landscape painter Alexander von Wagner...

A well-painted work featuring an interior, perhaps a residence, perhaps a restaurant or other public space, a table with fruit in a bowl, a chair, and sofa filling the space. The oil on canvas, 17 1/2" by 21" (20 1/2" by 24" in old frame, likely the original), is signed somewhat indecipherably at lower left and dated there "Berlin 1909". The name appears at first glance to be "B. Geis(xxxx)" or "B. Geism(xxxx)"...

A rare painting by the well-listed Norwegian woman artist SIGRID LOUISE BOLLING (1853-1917), the subject a scenic fjord with towering peaks in the background, some with snow, hulking above man's humble houses on a rise at left. The work, signed but not dated at lower left, is oil on wood panel, measuring 10" by 13 1/2" (18" by 20 1/2" framed). Bolling was born in the Oslo outer borough of Vestre Aker, Norway, her father an officer and landowner, her mother Baroness Wedel-Jarlsberg...

This painting is something of a mystery, in that it depicts a fantastic classic castle on a hill, obviously in the Old World, a donkey pulling a card in the foreground......yet, there is a modernity to the work, especially in the somewhat cubist handling of the lines of the architecture, but, also, there's modernity in the entire structure of the image. Painted on an old board, this measures 26" by 18" (30" by 22" in a modern frame). The painting is signed at lower right "M...

From our European Collection, a masterpiece by German genre realism painter Carl Johann Spielter (1851-1922), entitled "Sad News," painted in 1901. More information to follow: Size: Framed Size 60 inches wide x 48 inches tall.

English circa 1850 landscape oil painting of a castle (the shape suggesting often-painted Windsor Castle) topping a low mountain, two tiny figures in the foreground. The work, 16 1/2" by 22" (19 1/2" by 25" in frame that appears "married" to it, and not that successfully, at that) is very, very grimy. This is a restoration project----to remove the dirt of 150 years, repair several small tears, and varnish the dry surface. There is no signature visible...

A PAIR of oil on canvas works, each 14" by 10", unframed, featuring hanging wild birds against a simulated wood-grain background, painted in the then-popular realistic trompe l'oeil manner of painters like William Harnett in America, or Michelangelo Meucci (1840-1909) in Italy. The paintings likely date to about the 1880's. They are signed but despite my best efforts, I have been unable to make out the worn and faint signature. An image of that area is provided...

Oil on canvas laid on masonite, 14" by 11" and 3 1/2" wide frame, signed at lower right "C. DE VRIES". This is a pleasing work showing a young woman of central or alpine regions of Europe, holding in her hand a typical felt hat of the area, a window at rear letting in natural light that beautifully illuminates the subject. I have researched this name and find one listing that appears to correspond to the signature, one Belgian artist CAMILLE DE VRIES (1854-after 1924)...

This is an original oil on canvas painting laid to a board, by French Marine artist Barthelemy Lauvergne. The title is Vue de Toulon, dated 1849, this painting measures 17 11/2X25 1/2 inches, signed and dated bottom right. Some light crackiing to the painting but everything is stable, the canvas has been backed upon a board no evidence of inpainting. Toulon is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast...

From our European Collection, a beautifully painted 19th century original oil on board entitled "Portrait of a Lady, Full Length in a Black Dress, Standing in an Interior," by Austrian master Edouard Ender (1822-1883).

Ender's body of work is not especially large, with about 60 extant works known and documented...

An antique oil on board painting of a chestnut thoroughbred in the barn, 9 1/2" by 12 1/2" plus 7/8" inch wide contemporary wood frame, signed with conjoined "AS" or "SA" monogram and dated 1899 at center left. The work is most certainly by a listed artist. The painting has a dry surface and perhaps some chemical oxidation of the paint, giving a blanched look in a number of parts of the horse's body, including rear spine/rump, tail, chest and legs; please view photos carefully...

Decorative old antique floral painting, 17 1/4" by 13 1/4" (20 3/4" by 16 3/4" framed), unsigned, featuring a variety of flowers, including a tulip, in a decorative metallic vessel, all against a dark background, in the style going back to 17th century Holland. It is hard to know exactly how old the work is but mid 19th century would likely be a good guess. The canvas weave is rather coarse, promoting the earlier look. The piece is convincingly old, with some small losses and extensive craque...

Charles François Daubigny landscape oil on panel signed lower left presented in a quality gold leaf frame. Panel measures 10.5"W x 7.75"H. overall framed size 16.0" W x 13.0" H x 2.5" D A French landscapist of the Barbizon School, Charles-Francois Daubigny was born in 1817 in Paris. In 1835, having received a small scholarship, he went to Italy, where he spent an unproductive year. He earned a living by doing engravings for books and regularly sent to the Salon peaceful landscapes, painted...

Oil on unusual crimped/bent metal tin panels, each extensive landscape painting measuring 5 1/2" by 9 1/2" and about 1 1/2" margin all around, each signed at bottom in red "H. ROUX". These are beautifully painted works of the nineteenth century by an apparently listed Swiss artist. The pair has some scratches and small abrasions in a few spots, and one has a scratched area at top extending into the gold margin; but, these flaws are not so significant as to affect the overall impression. No do...

An antique oil on canvas, 19 1/4" by 26 1/2" (27 1/2" by 34 1/2" in gold frame), featuring the oft-painted view of the Wetterhorn peak (3,692 meters) in south-central Switzerland, above the village of Grindelwald. The work is signed with initials at lower center and dated 1859, but to date my efforts to tie it to a particular artist have been unsuccessful. The painting has extensive craquelure in the sky at upper right portion, and there are two small losses elsewhere. Old writing on the stre...

A fine pair of Venetian canal scenes painted by the School of Panini. Includes unique hand-carved frames. Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 20” x 13” Artist biography: Giovanni Paolo Panini, the most celebrated and popular view painter in eighteenth-century Rome, was born 17 June 1691 in Piacenza. Although he prepared as a youth for a career in the Church, he studied perspective and architectural painting in his native city and had received some architectural training by the time of his arriva...

A beautiful original antique oil painting of a young woman with flowers by Emile Eisman-Semenowsky Paris circa 1900. Oil on wood panel signed lower left and noted Paris. Presented in the original antique ornate picture frame with name plaque on center bottom. Panel measures 9.5" x 13" overall framed size 21.0" W x 24.5" H x 3.0" D. Emile Eisman-Semenowsky was born in Poland and was of Jewish descent. Little is known about his childhood and education. In the 1880s and 1890s, he spent several y...