.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Tomás Hiepes (or Yepes) was the dominant still-life painter in Valencia during the seventeenth-century. As was the case elsewhere in Spain, still-life painting did not begin to flourish in the city until the 1640s, and Valencian still lifes are distinguished by their pared-back compositions and somewhat archaic style - what has been described as an 'archaistic charm' (see W.B. Jordan and P. Cherry, Spanish Still Life from Velázquez to Goya, exh. cat., London, 1995, p. 118).
Hiepes registered in the Colegio de Pintores (the Valencian painter’s guild) as 'Tomás Yepes, painter' on 16 October 1616. The few surviving archival references to Hiepes mainly derive from litigation records, which frequently concern his wife's inheritance, as she was the daughter of a wealthy carpenter (see A. Pérez Sánchez, Catálogo de la Exposición Thomas Yepes, Valencia, 1995, pp. 142-147). These documents also show that Hiepes' sister, Vicenta, ran a sucreria, or confectioner's shop, filled with honey, sugar loaves, and almonds – the very subjects of so many of Hiepes' still lifes. Additionally, these records reveal that he had links with the fairs at Medina del Campo where he may have sold his paintings, and where he would have become familiar with the artists working in Castile, such as Juan van der Hamen and Alejandro de Loarte. His local reputation as a celebrated painter of fruteros ('fruit bowls') was recorded during his lifetime, in 1656, by the chronicler Marco Antonio Ortí.
The best-known source on the artist, however, is the descriptive account written in the eighteenth century by the local art historian Marcos Antonio Orellana, who noted: 'his flowers are subtle, translucent and light, his fruits very natural and everything done with admirable perfection. His paintings...are esteemed and celebrated, and one does not see baskets with fruit, flowers, etc., biscuits, pies, cheeses, or pastries...which are well executed in conformity with the real things, without thinking and esteeming them to be works by Yepes.' (X. de Salas ed., Biografía pictórica valenciana o Vida de los pintores, arquitectos, escultores y grabadores valencianos, Valencia, 1967, pp. 221-222).
The objects in Spanish still lifes were frequently intended to be symbolic; see, for example, the still lifes by Francisco and Juan de Zurbarán in the National Gallery, London. Here, the objects that have been selected may also have had religious overtones. The pan dulce (a sugar-dusted bread) and delicate glassware containing water may allude to the Eucharist and serve as a reminder of Christ's sacrifice. The presence of water instead of wine might refer to the Gospel (John 4:13-14): ‘he who drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst again, for it shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.’ The liturgical aspect of the composition is further reinforced by the objects having been carefully laid out on a green damask cloth, as if upon an altar.
The fine lacework that decorates the edge of the white hand cloth is characteristically Valencian and can be found in other works by Hiepes: the same lace trims edges the tablecloths in two 'tabletop' still lifes dating from the early 1640s (Jordan and Cherry, op. cit., p. 119, figs. 90 and 91). The artist clearly enjoyed describing the delicate lace trim with meticulous precision, as indeed the transparency of the glassware and translucency of the water therein. The pared-back simplicity of the composition and its symmetry have been seemingly disrupted by the tossed hand cloth at the left, giving the otherwise still and timeless scene a sense of immediacy. The religious overtones in the painting - a rarity in Hiepes' oeuvre - suggest that this still life was specifically commissioned, rather than painted for the open market.
Hiepes registered in the Colegio de Pintores (the Valencian painter’s guild) as 'Tomás Yepes, painter' on 16 October 1616. The few surviving archival references to Hiepes mainly derive from litigation records, which frequently concern his wife's inheritance, as she was the daughter of a wealthy carpenter (see A. Pérez Sánchez, Catálogo de la Exposición Thomas Yepes, Valencia, 1995, pp. 142-147). These documents also show that Hiepes' sister, Vicenta, ran a sucreria, or confectioner's shop, filled with honey, sugar loaves, and almonds – the very subjects of so many of Hiepes' still lifes. Additionally, these records reveal that he had links with the fairs at Medina del Campo where he may have sold his paintings, and where he would have become familiar with the artists working in Castile, such as Juan van der Hamen and Alejandro de Loarte. His local reputation as a celebrated painter of fruteros ('fruit bowls') was recorded during his lifetime, in 1656, by the chronicler Marco Antonio Ortí.
The best-known source on the artist, however, is the descriptive account written in the eighteenth century by the local art historian Marcos Antonio Orellana, who noted: 'his flowers are subtle, translucent and light, his fruits very natural and everything done with admirable perfection. His paintings...are esteemed and celebrated, and one does not see baskets with fruit, flowers, etc., biscuits, pies, cheeses, or pastries...which are well executed in conformity with the real things, without thinking and esteeming them to be works by Yepes.' (X. de Salas ed., Biografía pictórica valenciana o Vida de los pintores, arquitectos, escultores y grabadores valencianos, Valencia, 1967, pp. 221-222).
The objects in Spanish still lifes were frequently intended to be symbolic; see, for example, the still lifes by Francisco and Juan de Zurbarán in the National Gallery, London. Here, the objects that have been selected may also have had religious overtones. The pan dulce (a sugar-dusted bread) and delicate glassware containing water may allude to the Eucharist and serve as a reminder of Christ's sacrifice. The presence of water instead of wine might refer to the Gospel (John 4:13-14): ‘he who drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst again, for it shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.’ The liturgical aspect of the composition is further reinforced by the objects having been carefully laid out on a green damask cloth, as if upon an altar.
The fine lacework that decorates the edge of the white hand cloth is characteristically Valencian and can be found in other works by Hiepes: the same lace trims edges the tablecloths in two 'tabletop' still lifes dating from the early 1640s (Jordan and Cherry, op. cit., p. 119, figs. 90 and 91). The artist clearly enjoyed describing the delicate lace trim with meticulous precision, as indeed the transparency of the glassware and translucency of the water therein. The pared-back simplicity of the composition and its symmetry have been seemingly disrupted by the tossed hand cloth at the left, giving the otherwise still and timeless scene a sense of immediacy. The religious overtones in the painting - a rarity in Hiepes' oeuvre - suggest that this still life was specifically commissioned, rather than painted for the open market.