Towards the end of last year I was contacted by Jackie Sablan, who lives (I believe) in Austin, Texas. Jackie had been searching online for information about Gerard Ceunis, as she is the proud owner of three of his paintings, which she bought in Clare, Suffolk, in 2007.
At my request, Jackie kindly sent me photographs of the paintings (above). The first one bears the title ‘Ulenspiegel’ and seems to depict a scene from a Flemish folktale about a legendary prankster, while the second is entitled ‘Riviera Doll’. I’m not sure about the title of the third picture.
I have to confess to being a little sceptical about these paintings to begin with, since they seemed unlike any other pictures by Ceunis that I’d previously seen. Could these whimsical, some might say rather kitsch, pictures really be by the artist who painted ‘Flemish Room’?
Gerard Ceunis, ‘Flemish Room’, c. 1930 (Letterenhuis, Antwerp)
But then, it’s difficult to make a judgement of this kind, given that there are so few of Ceunis’ paintings in the public domain, not to mention the fact that the artist’s own granddaughter tells me that those in public collections are unrepresentative of his oeuvre as a whole. On the other hand, the third painting, depicting a figurine of an elegantly-dressed bewigged gentleman against the background of a formal country estate, does bear a passing resemblance to Ceunis’ painting ‘Nacre’, now in North Hertfordshire Museum.
Gerard Ceunis, ‘Nacre’ (North Hertfordshire Museum)
However, Jackie was able to confirm that all three of the paintings in her possession are actually by Ceunis. Not only do they bear his signature, they also have labels attached with the artist’s name and address.
The most legible of these labels is the one that accompanies ‘Riviera Doll’ (above). Like the labels on the other two pictures, it indicates that this was a work submitted to (an exhibition of?) the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, whose gallery address was in Piccadilly, London. The Royal Institute, which is still going strong, has a membership restricted to about 65 members, who are elected by existing members. Annual exhibitions are open to general submission. Its gallery at 195 Piccadilly seems to have closed in 1970 when the Institute moved to the Mall Galleries.
Gerard Ceunis gives his own address as the Rowley Gallery, a fine art dealer in Kensington Church Street, which is also still in existence. The sale price for this particular painting appears to be 35 guineas. However, without knowing the date of the exhibition at which it was shown, it’s difficult to assess its equivalent value today.
The Quest for Ceunis 