The Four Elements

Public Domain

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Images(6)

Artist Louis Finson(Flemish, 1580–1617)Flemish, 1580–1617

CultureFlemish

Titles

The Four Elements

Date1611

PlaceNaples, Italy

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsCanvas: 70 1/2 × 66 15/16 in. (179 × 170 cm)
Frame: 84 1/2 x 80 3/4 x 4 in. (214.6 x 205.1 x 10.2 cm)

Credit LineSarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, Houston

Object numberBF.2018.1

Not on view

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Department

Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation

Object Type

PAINTING

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 (1577–1648), in Copenhagen via the court painter and art dealer Pieter Isaacksz. (1569–1625), 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]; 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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