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Lot Essay
Born in Antwerp, the son and pupil of Jan Brueghel II, Abraham Brueghel was the last distinguished representative of the artistic dynasty founded in the previous century by Pieter Brueghel the Elder. Abraham was inscribed in the painters' guild in Antwerp in 1655, but no works from his pre-Italian career have ever been identified. By 1659 he was already resident on the via del Babuino in Rome. Don Antonio Ruffo in Messina became an important patron almost immediately after his arrival; Brueghel is believed to have visited Sicily twice, in 1663-64 and 1667-68. Brueghel was admitted into the Accademia di San Luca in 1670, and the Congregazione dei Virtuosi al Pantheon a year later. His earliest dated painting is a still life in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, signed A Breughel F. Roma 1670. It displays his formula for success: he had grafted his grandfather, 'Velvet' Brueghel's genius for details onto the sumptuous pictorialism and riotous compositions of the leading local master, Michelangelo Pace, called Il Campidoglio. Brueghel's presence in the Eternal City is last recorded on September 17, 1673; in 1675 a son was born to him in Naples.
Success followed him. Bernardo De Dominici (1742) writes admiringly that Brueghel was 'famosissimo' for the ease with which he composed grand canvases of fruits and flowers arranged about monumental vases and classical balustrades. His works were esteemed by the Neapolitan caposcuola, Luca Giordano, and were proudly displayed in noble palaces. A complete catalogue of his paintings has not yet been attempted, but is very much to be desired.
At this time only Naples rivaled Rome for its abundance and excellence of still life specialists - a fact confirmed by Brueghel's decision to move to the city of Partenope. His presence meant a sea change for a local school that traced its origins to Caravaggio's two visits, 1606-08 and 1609-10. Giuseppe Recco, Giambattista Ruoppolo and the other Neapolitan still life masters achieved striking effects by placing violent lights against impenetrable darkness. They liked to isolate and focus on every individual element.
Brueghel's willingness to conform to local traditions, at least initially, is evinced in the present Bouquet datable to his Neapolitan period around 1675. There is a calculated archaism - and remarkable dignity - in this symmetrical arrangement of a single variety of flowers. Red-and-white striped tulips fan out like a diadem crowned by a red-and-yellow jewel in the center. The influence of Giuseppe Recco's early flowerpieces, and his father Giacomo Recco's, is unmistakable. On the other hand, the dragonfly, left, and a butterfly, right, hovering in attendance, are captured with a miniaturist precision that proclaims the artist's Netherlandish roots. The black-and-gilt bronze vase is a typical touch of Brueghelian opulence.
The small format and unusual use of a wooden support may reflect a patron's commission for a decorative series, or pair, of still lifes. The inscription in an old hand on the reverse of this Bouquet of Tulips in a Gilt Vase records an early and reliable attribution perhaps derived from a signature on a companion piece. In translation it reads, 'Abraham Brueghel, Fleming, friend and colleague of Luca Giordano, Neapolitan.' As Brueghel's fame increased in Naples, Giordano was pleased to paint the figures in his compositions, as the writer was well aware.
We are grateful to Dr John Spike for the above catalogue entry.
Success followed him. Bernardo De Dominici (1742) writes admiringly that Brueghel was 'famosissimo' for the ease with which he composed grand canvases of fruits and flowers arranged about monumental vases and classical balustrades. His works were esteemed by the Neapolitan caposcuola, Luca Giordano, and were proudly displayed in noble palaces. A complete catalogue of his paintings has not yet been attempted, but is very much to be desired.
At this time only Naples rivaled Rome for its abundance and excellence of still life specialists - a fact confirmed by Brueghel's decision to move to the city of Partenope. His presence meant a sea change for a local school that traced its origins to Caravaggio's two visits, 1606-08 and 1609-10. Giuseppe Recco, Giambattista Ruoppolo and the other Neapolitan still life masters achieved striking effects by placing violent lights against impenetrable darkness. They liked to isolate and focus on every individual element.
Brueghel's willingness to conform to local traditions, at least initially, is evinced in the present Bouquet datable to his Neapolitan period around 1675. There is a calculated archaism - and remarkable dignity - in this symmetrical arrangement of a single variety of flowers. Red-and-white striped tulips fan out like a diadem crowned by a red-and-yellow jewel in the center. The influence of Giuseppe Recco's early flowerpieces, and his father Giacomo Recco's, is unmistakable. On the other hand, the dragonfly, left, and a butterfly, right, hovering in attendance, are captured with a miniaturist precision that proclaims the artist's Netherlandish roots. The black-and-gilt bronze vase is a typical touch of Brueghelian opulence.
The small format and unusual use of a wooden support may reflect a patron's commission for a decorative series, or pair, of still lifes. The inscription in an old hand on the reverse of this Bouquet of Tulips in a Gilt Vase records an early and reliable attribution perhaps derived from a signature on a companion piece. In translation it reads, 'Abraham Brueghel, Fleming, friend and colleague of Luca Giordano, Neapolitan.' As Brueghel's fame increased in Naples, Giordano was pleased to paint the figures in his compositions, as the writer was well aware.
We are grateful to Dr John Spike for the above catalogue entry.