The picture was in the collection of Count Alexander Stroganoff, adviser Catherine the Great, and the Hermitage. In April 2013 was returned to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the descendants of the pre-war owner

Gerrit van Honthorst The duo. 1624
Estimate: 2-3 million dollars
Source: Press Release Christie's

favorite auction "Art Old Masters" to be held on June 5 in New York City will become famous painting "Duet" brush Gerrit van Honthorst. having Russian origin - the picture in the collection of Count Alexander Stroganoff, adviser Catherine the Great, and the Hermitage. Written in 1624, at the peak of his creative career Honthorst, this work is one of the best images of a night of fun became renowned Dutch painter. The painting, which for over 40 years was an exhibit of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, was recently returned to the heirs of Bruno Spiro, who was forced to sell the work during the Second World War. The painting "Duet" is estimated at 2-3 million dollars.

Gerrit van Honthorst (1592-1656, Utrecht), who was part of a small but influential group of artists in the XVII century Holland, who worked under the influence of Caravaggio, became famous as the "Utrecht Caravaggisti." "Duet" symbolizes popular in Utrecht 1620s music scene, in which the paintings depicting musicians and singers to the waist, concealed lighting light source. In this candid picture of sensual man with a mustache and half-dressed young woman standing together in an open book and sung by candlelight. Lips dressed in theatrical costumes made of fur, feathers and bright fabrics couples were frozen in singing. In "Duet" Love is clearly traceable component of the composition: the pair stands close to each other, and the woman's breasts exposed. The contemporaries of the artist interpreted the song as a flirt and act of love. Eroticism inherent in this picture, also refers to kurtizanskim scenes, which were very popular at that time in Utrecht. Nude woman's chest and decoration of feathers in her hair indicate that it is likely, and there is a courtesan, and the man - her visitor.

Scenes brush Honthorst night of fun, the master of fine transmission of light, have been very popular among discerning collectors, and in the XIX century painting "Duet" was in St. Petersburg famous collection of Count Stroganov. Building on the beginnings of his father, Alexander Sergeyevich Stroganov (1733-1811) managed to collect an outstanding collection, for which he built an art gallery in the Stroganov Palace on Nevsky Prospekt, one of the most magnificent mansions in the XVIII century. This is the greatest collection included masterpieces of Italian, Spanish, French and German old masters, as well as Dutch and Flemish artists such as Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck. Stroganov Art Gallery, which was the artistic advisor of Catherine the Great and the president of the Imperial Academy of Arts, was a meeting place for artists and art lovers. In addition, the Stroganov was also a generous patron of the arts and supported by such prominent artists of his time, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Marie Louise Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun and Hubert Robert. Stroganov published a catalog of his collection, the first of its kind in Russia, based on French counterparts. Of the various editions of these catalogs is obvious that Stroganoff acquired the painting "Duet" after the publication of the catalog in 1793, in which it is not included, but until the publication in 1807, where it is mentioned under the name of "Singing Lesson» (La leçon de chant). The picture was hereditary, and remained in the family until it was discovered in the catalog of the Hermitage and the local assemblies in 1864. After 1912 it was housed in the Hermitage, along with other paintings from the collection of Stroganov, two years before the Count Sergei Alexandrovich (1852-1923), opened for visits to family mansion in 1914. After the revolution of 1917 the entire collection was nationalized and in 1925 moved Stroganov Palace Hermitage. In 1931, the painting "Duet" was sold in a special auction Lepke Berlin, organized by the Soviet government. Later that same year, the painting was purchased by Bruno and Ellen Spiro, who in 1938 took away his National Socialists and sold, along with all the contents Spiro villa in Berlin. The picture has visited various German collections, while in 1969, was acquired in the art market in Munich, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, from which she was returned to the descendants of the family Spiro in April 2013.

Source : Press Release Christie's