After Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (Spanish, 1617–1682)
Boys Playing Dice and The Little Fruit Seller
Continental School, likely Italian, 18th Century
Oil on canvas
Offered as a matched pair
This distinguished pair of Continental Baroque genre paintings is executed after celebrated compositions by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, specifically Boys Playing Dice and The Little Fruit Seller, two of the artist’s most influential and widely interpreted genre scenes. 18th-century interpretations created by a skilled Continental painter working within the academic Baroque tradition.
The paintings demonstrate a refined understanding of Murillo’s visual language, including softly modeled flesh tones, restrained chiaroscuro, and expressive yet naturalistic figural interaction. The compositions retain the warmth and moralizing intimacy that made Murillo’s genre scenes so admired throughout Europe, while exhibiting painterly confidence and compositional balance characteristic of period atelier work rather than later decorative reproduction.
Executed on canvas and presented in richly carved and gilt frames, the paintings possess strong visual authority and scale. The frames, likely dating to the 19th century, complement the compositions beautifully and contribute significantly to their overall presence.
The reverse of each canvas bears the stamp of Henry Wimmer, Gallery of Fine Arts, Munich, a respected mid-20th-century European dealer known for handling authentic Old Master and early Continental works for the international and American collector market. The paintings were acquired by the present family in the 1980s and were professionally restored at that time, resulting in stable and refined surfaces consistent with responsible conservation practices.
Together, the two works form a harmonious and visually compelling pair, offering collectors the opportunity to acquire period paintings after Murillo that capture the spirit, craftsmanship, and visual appeal of the Baroque era without speculative attribution.
Dimensions
Canvas: approximately 31 ¾ x 24 ½ inches (each)
Framed: approximately 40 x 32 ¾ inches (each)
Condition
Both paintings are in very good condition. They have been professionally conserved prior to acquisition by the current family, with stable paint surfaces and an even varnish. The canvases have been re-stretched at an earlier date, as is typical for works of this age. The giltwood frames show appropriate age-related wear and patina, consistent with their period and enhancing their visual depth.
Provenance
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Henry Wimmer, Gallery of Fine Arts, Munich
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Acquired by the American collectors in the 1950s
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Private American collection since