LACMA's Former Baldung Grien to Be Auctioned

Hans Baldung Grien and studio, The Virgin and Child in a Chamber

Yet another European painting formerly owned by LACMA is coming to market with an upgraded attribution. In 1946 the Los Angeles County Museum acquired a Virgin and Child in a Chamber with funds provided by William Randolph Hearst. The painting was believed to be by German Renaissance master Hans Baldung Grien and was so featured in museum publications and catalogs. By early 2006 however, the painting had been deaccessioned and was auctioned at Sotheby's as "After Hans Baldung." Whoever bought it then ("a Midwest Collection") is now selling it at Christie's Jan. 25, 2023. The estimate is $30,000 -$50,000.

The painting is a version of a damaged picture in Nuremberg. Scholars have differed on whether it's by Baldung's hand. The "and Workshop" attribution was proposed in von der Osten's 1983 catalogue raisonné. 

Last month New Hampshire's Currier Museum of Art bought a Judith Leyster painting that had been sold by LACMA.