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Lot Essay
Jan van Huysum was the most famous still-life painter of his day.
Born in Amsterdam, the son of a still-life painter and brother of three others, he seems to have never left his native city. Little is known of his life and he seems to have worked in strict seclusion, jealously guarding the secrets of his technique. Margareta Haverman was his only recorded pupil. His style combines a painstakingly perfectionist technique with an insistence on working direct from nature, which sometimes required him to wait until the next season for fresh blooms. In a letter of 1742, he wrote 'The flower piece is coming on well; I could not procure a yellow rose last year, otherwise it would have been finished; the grapes, figs and pomegranate still have to be painted in the fruit piece' (quoted by S. Segal in the catalogue of the exhibition, Flowers and Nature, Osaka, Tokyo and Sydney, 1990,
p. 241); some of his pictures such as the fruit still life in this lot are dated twice, a year apart. Van Huysum enjoyed enormous success in his lifetime, receiving commissions from a number of European monarchs and commanding high prices. His paintings were among the most expensive in the world until well into the nineteenth century.
The present paintings show how van Huysum combines a casual naturalism with an almost excessive use of detail. He reveled in delightful microscopic details, such as the lifelike drops of dew scattered on the fruit and flowers. Insects swarm over the bouquet, including butterflies and a bee. Van Huysum balances a birds nest precariously on a ledge, providing even greater contrasts in texture, the soft down and spiky twigs setting off the flowers above, and the compositions sparkle and gleam in an even and clear light bereft of strong contrasts. The artist often paired paintings of fruit and flowers that celebrated natures abundance in the most delightful fashion; a significant proportion of these have since been separated.
The way in which the signature in the present flower piece is
partially obscured by a flower in order to heighten the
illusionistic effect is a trademark of Van Huysum's work, as is the
'Van Huysum' rose, a yellow cabbage rose which was evidently difficult to cultivate and is unknown today; the flower piece of 1722 in the
Hermitage is the first dated work in which Van Huysum depicted this
hybrid which was to bear his name. It can also be seen in a similar pair of paintings by the artist sold at Christie's, London, 8 July 1994, lot 72 (£750,000).
Born in Amsterdam, the son of a still-life painter and brother of three others, he seems to have never left his native city. Little is known of his life and he seems to have worked in strict seclusion, jealously guarding the secrets of his technique. Margareta Haverman was his only recorded pupil. His style combines a painstakingly perfectionist technique with an insistence on working direct from nature, which sometimes required him to wait until the next season for fresh blooms. In a letter of 1742, he wrote 'The flower piece is coming on well; I could not procure a yellow rose last year, otherwise it would have been finished; the grapes, figs and pomegranate still have to be painted in the fruit piece' (quoted by S. Segal in the catalogue of the exhibition, Flowers and Nature, Osaka, Tokyo and Sydney, 1990,
p. 241); some of his pictures such as the fruit still life in this lot are dated twice, a year apart. Van Huysum enjoyed enormous success in his lifetime, receiving commissions from a number of European monarchs and commanding high prices. His paintings were among the most expensive in the world until well into the nineteenth century.
The present paintings show how van Huysum combines a casual naturalism with an almost excessive use of detail. He reveled in delightful microscopic details, such as the lifelike drops of dew scattered on the fruit and flowers. Insects swarm over the bouquet, including butterflies and a bee. Van Huysum balances a birds nest precariously on a ledge, providing even greater contrasts in texture, the soft down and spiky twigs setting off the flowers above, and the compositions sparkle and gleam in an even and clear light bereft of strong contrasts. The artist often paired paintings of fruit and flowers that celebrated natures abundance in the most delightful fashion; a significant proportion of these have since been separated.
The way in which the signature in the present flower piece is
partially obscured by a flower in order to heighten the
illusionistic effect is a trademark of Van Huysum's work, as is the
'Van Huysum' rose, a yellow cabbage rose which was evidently difficult to cultivate and is unknown today; the flower piece of 1722 in the
Hermitage is the first dated work in which Van Huysum depicted this
hybrid which was to bear his name. It can also be seen in a similar pair of paintings by the artist sold at Christie's, London, 8 July 1994, lot 72 (£750,000).