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Lot Essay
We are grateful to Mr. Fred Meijer of the RKD for the tentative attribution, given on the basis of photographs. Mr. Meijer notes that this work appears to be by the same hand as the still life exhibited by Rob Smeets at Maastricht, 1992, as by Paulus Hennekijn. The latter artist, however, was primarily a portraitist, and that work differed in its handling from Paulus' known oeuvre; his son, David, by contrast, is known to have been a still-life painter, a number of such works by him being described not only in his estate, but also in eighteenth-century sale catalogues. In addition, the painter Hendrick van Someren listed in his diary seven still lifes by David in the latter's house after a visit on 24 May 1667.
It seems probable that David may have been responsible for the garlands of fruit and flowers that surround several of his father's portraits. In addition, he painted a garland that was offered for sale, Sotheby's, London, 8 July 1999, lot 21, that was formerly regarded as a work by Jan Davidsz. de Heem, and certainly the latter's influence is evident in David's work; the central element of that work, however, also recalls the style of Willem van Aelst. Those two stylistic debts are evident in the present picture, that to de Heem in the placement of fruit in the porcelain bowl, and that to van Aelst in such elements as the gilt-edged velvet cloth over the marble ledge, as well as the softly lit tonality of the work.
Such influences would be quite understandable on an artist working in Amsterdam in the 1660s and '70s. De Heem's reputation and fame by then were such that his influence was widespread in both the Spanish Netherlands and the United Provinces - particularly his native Utrecht and Leiden, but also in Amsterdam in the work of such artists as Willem Kalf. Van Aelst returned from Italy in 1656, settling in Amsterdam the following year, where he quickly established himself as one of the foremost still-life painters of the day.
Judging from the very small body of his known pictures, David was an artist of some talent, the obscurity of whose work is probably a consequence of his early death and the subsequent confusion between his and his father's oeuvres. Given that the majority of his known works are collaborations with his father, and therefore presumably from his early period, the present work may represent an important insight into the mature style of this newly-rediscovered and, as yet, rare artist.
It seems probable that David may have been responsible for the garlands of fruit and flowers that surround several of his father's portraits. In addition, he painted a garland that was offered for sale, Sotheby's, London, 8 July 1999, lot 21, that was formerly regarded as a work by Jan Davidsz. de Heem, and certainly the latter's influence is evident in David's work; the central element of that work, however, also recalls the style of Willem van Aelst. Those two stylistic debts are evident in the present picture, that to de Heem in the placement of fruit in the porcelain bowl, and that to van Aelst in such elements as the gilt-edged velvet cloth over the marble ledge, as well as the softly lit tonality of the work.
Such influences would be quite understandable on an artist working in Amsterdam in the 1660s and '70s. De Heem's reputation and fame by then were such that his influence was widespread in both the Spanish Netherlands and the United Provinces - particularly his native Utrecht and Leiden, but also in Amsterdam in the work of such artists as Willem Kalf. Van Aelst returned from Italy in 1656, settling in Amsterdam the following year, where he quickly established himself as one of the foremost still-life painters of the day.
Judging from the very small body of his known pictures, David was an artist of some talent, the obscurity of whose work is probably a consequence of his early death and the subsequent confusion between his and his father's oeuvres. Given that the majority of his known works are collaborations with his father, and therefore presumably from his early period, the present work may represent an important insight into the mature style of this newly-rediscovered and, as yet, rare artist.