Louis Finson
The Four Elements

ArtistFlemish, 1580–1617
CultureFlemish
Titles
  • The Four Elements
Date1611
PlaceNaples, Italy
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsCanvas: 70 1/2 × 66 15/16 in. (179 × 170 cm)
Credit LineSarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, Houston
Object numberBF.2018.1
Current Location
The Audrey Jones Beck Building
215 Blaffer Galleries
Exposé

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Object Type
ProvenancePurchased by the jeweller and art dealer Hans le Thoor (Jean Letoir) at the auction organized by Finson’s heirs in the house of the painter and art dealer Abraham Vinck, Amsterdam, between late 1617 and early 1618; in 1618 offered for sale to Christian IV, King of Denmark, in Copenhagen via the painter and art dealer Pieter Isaacksz., the negotiations went on until 1624 and finally collapsed, the painting was returned to Hans le Thoor; in 1627 it was not on the list of Le Thoor’s possessions seized by bailiffs; Rombout family, Ghent, until c. 1993; [Sotheby’s, Amsterdam, May 10, 2005, lot 92, purchased by Rob Smeets, Milan, and Robert Noortman, Maastricht, from whom it was purchased by Otto Naumann, New York, who sold it to a private collection in 2009]; [Nicholas Hall, New York, 2018]; purchased by the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, 2018.
Exhibition History"Endless Enigma: Eight Centuries of Fantastic Art," David Zwirner Gallery, New York, September 21–October 27, 2018.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Signed and dated lower right: [LVDO]VICVS. FINSONIVS. FECIT. NAPOLI. A 1611

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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