Early Still Life
See also : Oil on copper Rubens Ancient Spain
Chronology : 1600-1609 1610-1619 1620-1629 1630-1639 1640-1649 1680-1699 1800-1809
Chronology : 1600-1609 1610-1619 1620-1629 1630-1639 1640-1649 1680-1699 1800-1809
1607 The Bouquets of Middelburg
2019 SOLD for $ 3M including premium
At the time of the development of botanical gardens and pleasure gardens, the bouquet of flowers discreetly animated by insects and lizards becomes an autonomous theme in painting. It has as precursors Dürer and Hoefnagel and as pioneers Ambrosius Bosschaert and Jan Brueghel.
The tradition of Dürer's naturalistic image had been maintained at Nuremberg by Hans Hoffmann. Accompanying the craze for cabinets of curiosity, Hoefnagel gathered images of plants and small animals in disparate and didactic alignments that somewhat evoke the insect boxes of our modern entomologists.
The island town of Middelburg in Zeeland had a strong cultural and scientific activity including an important botanical garden. In 1593 Bosschaert is identified as a member of the local guild of Saint Luke. His earliest dated paintings, in 1605, are full-page images in the style of Hoefnagel.
Bosschaert and Brueghel invent the painting of bouquets in a vase in 1606. Working for Cardinal Borromeo but residing in Antwerp, Brueghel paints opulent accumulations mixing flowers of all seasons.
Bosschaert paints simpler arrangements on copper in small format. In this early phase we must not look for a specific meaning behind each flower. It must instead be considered that the cultivation of ornamental flowers, imported from the East and modified by skillful hybridizers, is considered as a top luxury in the Netherlands of his time. Ambitious and aware of the importance of his art, Bosschaert signs with a monogram AB imitating the AD of Dürer.
On January 30 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on copper 24 x 18 cm painted by Bosschaert in 1607, lot 26 estimated $ 2.5M. With other flowers in a similar composition, an oil on copper of the same period was sold for CHF 5.8M including premium by Koller on September 19, 2008. The technique on copper allows a great naturalistic precision.
The tradition of Dürer's naturalistic image had been maintained at Nuremberg by Hans Hoffmann. Accompanying the craze for cabinets of curiosity, Hoefnagel gathered images of plants and small animals in disparate and didactic alignments that somewhat evoke the insect boxes of our modern entomologists.
The island town of Middelburg in Zeeland had a strong cultural and scientific activity including an important botanical garden. In 1593 Bosschaert is identified as a member of the local guild of Saint Luke. His earliest dated paintings, in 1605, are full-page images in the style of Hoefnagel.
Bosschaert and Brueghel invent the painting of bouquets in a vase in 1606. Working for Cardinal Borromeo but residing in Antwerp, Brueghel paints opulent accumulations mixing flowers of all seasons.
Bosschaert paints simpler arrangements on copper in small format. In this early phase we must not look for a specific meaning behind each flower. It must instead be considered that the cultivation of ornamental flowers, imported from the East and modified by skillful hybridizers, is considered as a top luxury in the Netherlands of his time. Ambitious and aware of the importance of his art, Bosschaert signs with a monogram AB imitating the AD of Dürer.
On January 30 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on copper 24 x 18 cm painted by Bosschaert in 1607, lot 26 estimated $ 2.5M. With other flowers in a similar composition, an oil on copper of the same period was sold for CHF 5.8M including premium by Koller on September 19, 2008. The technique on copper allows a great naturalistic precision.
1608 Flowers in an Oil on Copper by Bosschaert
2008 SOLD 5.8 MCHF including premium
This small copper 26 x 18 cm, which Koller sells in Zurich on September 19 is typical of Flemish still lifes from the early seventeenth century. It depicts a bouquet of flowers in a glass, a butterfly, a shell. The composition, well centred, highlights the tulips. The painting is monogramed AB, and includes a trace of date: 160., probably 1608.
Its author, Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, is so named today to distinguish him from his son Ambrosius. The latter, and the Elder's two other sons Abraham and Johannes, also painted still lifes, but the best known of the family is perhaps Balthasar van der Ast, brother-in-law and pupil of the elder Ambrosius.
On 10 July 2002, Sotheby's achieved good results on works by these painters. A bouquet in a window, oil on copper of 28 x 23 cm by Ambrosius the Elder and typical of his work, had been sold £ 2.1 million charge included. The same day, an oval oil on copper of 1624 by Balthasar has almost reached 950 K £.
With a composition very similar as the copper to be sold by Koller, another oil on copper, by Ambrosius the Elder, 30 x 20 cm, was sold £ 1.75 million by Sotheby's in London in July 2000. It was on my taste more interesting than the Koller's, because the flowers were more numerous and less dispersed. In both works, the glass is almost identical.
It derives from these figures that the estimate given by Koller, 2.5 MCHF, is ambitious, but the auction house announced that the painting is in exceptional condition, after being kept for 150 years in the same collection.
POST SALE COMMENTS
1
Koller got a good result on these flowers by Bosschaert: 5 MCHF excluding charges, twice the low estimate.
This article will have a following:
A bouquet in a niche by Balthasar van der Ast, 48 x 36 cm, is the lot 16 of the sale of Zürichsee Auktionen in Erlenbach on September 24 (estimated 500 KCHF). As I said in the article above, Balthasar was the brother in law of Ambrosius Bosschaert.
2
Balthasar's painting was not sold.
Its author, Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, is so named today to distinguish him from his son Ambrosius. The latter, and the Elder's two other sons Abraham and Johannes, also painted still lifes, but the best known of the family is perhaps Balthasar van der Ast, brother-in-law and pupil of the elder Ambrosius.
On 10 July 2002, Sotheby's achieved good results on works by these painters. A bouquet in a window, oil on copper of 28 x 23 cm by Ambrosius the Elder and typical of his work, had been sold £ 2.1 million charge included. The same day, an oval oil on copper of 1624 by Balthasar has almost reached 950 K £.
With a composition very similar as the copper to be sold by Koller, another oil on copper, by Ambrosius the Elder, 30 x 20 cm, was sold £ 1.75 million by Sotheby's in London in July 2000. It was on my taste more interesting than the Koller's, because the flowers were more numerous and less dispersed. In both works, the glass is almost identical.
It derives from these figures that the estimate given by Koller, 2.5 MCHF, is ambitious, but the auction house announced that the painting is in exceptional condition, after being kept for 150 years in the same collection.
POST SALE COMMENTS
1
Koller got a good result on these flowers by Bosschaert: 5 MCHF excluding charges, twice the low estimate.
This article will have a following:
A bouquet in a niche by Balthasar van der Ast, 48 x 36 cm, is the lot 16 of the sale of Zürichsee Auktionen in Erlenbach on September 24 (estimated 500 KCHF). As I said in the article above, Balthasar was the brother in law of Ambrosius Bosschaert.
2
Balthasar's painting was not sold.
1608 The Blossoms of Four Months
2016 SOLD for £ 3.85M including premium
A precocious artist, Jan Brueghel found patrons in Italy. Back in Antwerp in 1596, he remains in touch with the young cardinal Federico Borromeo recently appointed Archbishop of Milan.
Tastes change. Religious wars brought a political suspicion towards religious themes. In Prague Rudolf II prefers the observation of nature to his political commitments. Hoefnagel draws and paints for that emperor some collections of flowers and animals.
In 1606 Brueghel invents the still life of flowers. The details of his letters provide some view into the process of his first trial that is already a masterpiece. It is quite possible that this new style is executed by the artist from an idea suggested by the cardinal.
This is of course not the first time that a painting shows flowers in a vase, but these artworks previously considered as minor had mainly serve as modelli to be included in more ambitious compositions. Borromeo wishes a representation of blossoms in the whole variety of their shapes and colors for brightening his living throughout the year, so enjoying nature even outside the blooming period.
Very enthusiastic for this project, Brueghel painted the flowers from late spring until late summer within an overall plan that allows him to add them at their rightful place on the panel as and when they hatch. The great variety of brilliant colors meets the expectation of the cardinal. The overcrowding of the flowers in the vase is unrealistic : it is an artistic trick to escape the didactic alignments of Hoefnagel.
The artist produced several paintings in a similar technique in the following years. He gave up soon although not before 1611 their painting by direct observation and these early works will then serve as modelli. The goal remains decorative. Other artists will add the use of flowers and small animals as symbols and the arrangements inside wreaths.
One of the first original flower paintings by Brueghel is estimated £ 3M for sale by Sotheby's in London on July 6, lot 11. This oil on oak panel is dated circa 1608 by experts.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's :
Tastes change. Religious wars brought a political suspicion towards religious themes. In Prague Rudolf II prefers the observation of nature to his political commitments. Hoefnagel draws and paints for that emperor some collections of flowers and animals.
In 1606 Brueghel invents the still life of flowers. The details of his letters provide some view into the process of his first trial that is already a masterpiece. It is quite possible that this new style is executed by the artist from an idea suggested by the cardinal.
This is of course not the first time that a painting shows flowers in a vase, but these artworks previously considered as minor had mainly serve as modelli to be included in more ambitious compositions. Borromeo wishes a representation of blossoms in the whole variety of their shapes and colors for brightening his living throughout the year, so enjoying nature even outside the blooming period.
Very enthusiastic for this project, Brueghel painted the flowers from late spring until late summer within an overall plan that allows him to add them at their rightful place on the panel as and when they hatch. The great variety of brilliant colors meets the expectation of the cardinal. The overcrowding of the flowers in the vase is unrealistic : it is an artistic trick to escape the didactic alignments of Hoefnagel.
The artist produced several paintings in a similar technique in the following years. He gave up soon although not before 1611 their painting by direct observation and these early works will then serve as modelli. The goal remains decorative. Other artists will add the use of flowers and small animals as symbols and the arrangements inside wreaths.
One of the first original flower paintings by Brueghel is estimated £ 3M for sale by Sotheby's in London on July 6, lot 11. This oil on oak panel is dated circa 1608 by experts.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's :
#AuctionUpdate Outstanding Jan Brueghel the Elder work blossoms in the sale room to record for a still-life at £3.8m pic.twitter.com/QE6mt1AwyG
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) July 6, 2016
1612 Roelandt Savery at the Court of Rudolf II
2012 SOLD 5.4 MCHF including premium
Roelandt Savery is a Dutch painter born in Kortrijk in Flanders, but it is in Prague with Rudolf II that he develops an art which was new for the time. He activates the animals of the exotic menagerie of the emperor in the themes of the gardens of Paradise, of Noah's Ark and of the charms of Orpheus.
He is also one of the first artists to show still lifes of flowers. According to a design that will be copied many times, he arranges them as a tight bouquet in a vase located in a niche. Small reptiles and insects animate the scene.
Such a bouquet in a small oil on copper, 13.5 x 17 cm, dated 1612, is estimated CHF 2.8 million, for sale by Koller in Zurich on March 30. Here is the link to the catalogue.
This painting had been sold £ 1.76 million including premium by Sotheby's on 12 July 2001.
POST SALE COMMENT
Excellent price for this interesting painting despite its small size: CHF 4.7 million before fees, 5.4 million including premium.
This auction house often gets great results on old painting. In September 2008, a bouquet painted in 1608 by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder had been sold for CHF 5.8 million including premium.
He is also one of the first artists to show still lifes of flowers. According to a design that will be copied many times, he arranges them as a tight bouquet in a vase located in a niche. Small reptiles and insects animate the scene.
Such a bouquet in a small oil on copper, 13.5 x 17 cm, dated 1612, is estimated CHF 2.8 million, for sale by Koller in Zurich on March 30. Here is the link to the catalogue.
This painting had been sold £ 1.76 million including premium by Sotheby's on 12 July 2001.
POST SALE COMMENT
Excellent price for this interesting painting despite its small size: CHF 4.7 million before fees, 5.4 million including premium.
This auction house often gets great results on old painting. In September 2008, a bouquet painted in 1608 by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder had been sold for CHF 5.8 million including premium.
1620 The Jovial Conspiracies of Isabella Brant
2018 SOLD for $ 5.7M including premium
On April 19 in New York, Christie's sells an oil painting 105 x 76 cm by Rubens on the theme of a satyr holding a basket of grapes and quinces with a nymph at his side, dated around 1620 by the auction house. It is estimated $ 5M, lot 41.
The bearded satyr is in the prime of his life, with two thin horns on his forehead and pointed ears. The nymph is ready to grab a grape in the basket. The two characters do not look at each other but have the same jovial smile.
They are featured in other compositions of the same period. In a lost painting known through copies, the same nymph is naked under a transparent veil. Interestingly they are linked with two group scenes, Bacchanal and Drunken Silenus, both of which are disgusting images intended to make viewers aware of the consequences of debauchery.
The Bacchanal, 95 x 107 cm, is traditionally dated around 1615 and kept at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. Our satyr is on the left, nude and drunk, supported with difficulty by a naked satyress with legs and hooves of a goat.
The Drunken Silenus is traditionally dated between 1616 and 1617. The surviving version 212 x 214 cm kept at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich is one of Rubens' most famous masterpieces. Around the staggering satyr, all the other characters at the top of the picture are laughing. Another version was destroyed in Berlin in 1945.
In Drunken Silenus the woman just behind the satyr emits a happy look of connivance towards the spectator as if it was she who had abused the weakness of the old male with grape and wine. She had the same role as the central figure in Lot and his daughters painted in 1614 who is busy to drunk her father. It is not a coincidence that the faces of these young women are similar : they are certainly portraits of the ever smiling Isabella Brant, the wife of Rubens.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
The bearded satyr is in the prime of his life, with two thin horns on his forehead and pointed ears. The nymph is ready to grab a grape in the basket. The two characters do not look at each other but have the same jovial smile.
They are featured in other compositions of the same period. In a lost painting known through copies, the same nymph is naked under a transparent veil. Interestingly they are linked with two group scenes, Bacchanal and Drunken Silenus, both of which are disgusting images intended to make viewers aware of the consequences of debauchery.
The Bacchanal, 95 x 107 cm, is traditionally dated around 1615 and kept at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. Our satyr is on the left, nude and drunk, supported with difficulty by a naked satyress with legs and hooves of a goat.
The Drunken Silenus is traditionally dated between 1616 and 1617. The surviving version 212 x 214 cm kept at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich is one of Rubens' most famous masterpieces. Around the staggering satyr, all the other characters at the top of the picture are laughing. Another version was destroyed in Berlin in 1945.
In Drunken Silenus the woman just behind the satyr emits a happy look of connivance towards the spectator as if it was she who had abused the weakness of the old male with grape and wine. She had the same role as the central figure in Lot and his daughters painted in 1614 who is busy to drunk her father. It is not a coincidence that the faces of these young women are similar : they are certainly portraits of the ever smiling Isabella Brant, the wife of Rubens.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
1621 Beyond the Bouquet
2019 SOLD for € 3.3M including premium
Ambrosius Bosschaert began his career in Middelburg before 1605. At that time of great craze for botany, he painted bouquets of flowers in glass vases. He was the pioneer of still life in Northern Europe, just before Savery and Brueghel.
This novelty is very successful. Bosschaert will never change his theme but variants appear. His early works are painted on copper, which provides an extreme delicacy in the floral details. Then he also uses wood for offering larger formats.
The flowers, certainly painted from modellos, are grouped for their aesthetics, without worrying about their season of blossoming. Gradually the bright yellow iris and the red tulip come to occupy a dominant position in the group. The flowers of the bouquet may not have a mystical meaning but on the table butterflies and cut flowers are symbols of ephemeral life. An empty shell promises the resurrection.
The early compositions are on a plain dark background. Around 1618 he innovates by placing the bouquet and the ledge in front of the arcature of a window, against the backdrop of a lacustrine or fluvial landscape in dull colors, with some hardly recognizable monuments over a horizon of hills.
In the last phase he removes the window. Two examples are known, with a comparable floral composition and still in front of the same landscape. The terminus ante quem is the death of the artist in 1621. By the quality of his achievements, the autograph art of Ambrosius 'the elder' cannot be confused with that of his three sons and his brother-in-law who were practicing similar themes.
One of these two paintings is a copper 28 x 23 cm. The other example, which has just been identified in a deceased estate where it was previously considered as a work by Brueghel de Velours, is a 29 x 19 cm oil on panel. It will be sold on June 19 in Paris, Hôtel Drouot, by the joint operation of two auction houses, Fraysse and Binoche et Giquello, lot 9.
A bouquet in front of the usual dark background, oil on copper 34 x 23 cm with an unreadable date which is probably 1621, was sold for € 1.7M including premium by Gros et Delettrez on June 1, 2012. A few misses were reported in the catalog.
The tweet below shows a detail.
This novelty is very successful. Bosschaert will never change his theme but variants appear. His early works are painted on copper, which provides an extreme delicacy in the floral details. Then he also uses wood for offering larger formats.
The flowers, certainly painted from modellos, are grouped for their aesthetics, without worrying about their season of blossoming. Gradually the bright yellow iris and the red tulip come to occupy a dominant position in the group. The flowers of the bouquet may not have a mystical meaning but on the table butterflies and cut flowers are symbols of ephemeral life. An empty shell promises the resurrection.
The early compositions are on a plain dark background. Around 1618 he innovates by placing the bouquet and the ledge in front of the arcature of a window, against the backdrop of a lacustrine or fluvial landscape in dull colors, with some hardly recognizable monuments over a horizon of hills.
In the last phase he removes the window. Two examples are known, with a comparable floral composition and still in front of the same landscape. The terminus ante quem is the death of the artist in 1621. By the quality of his achievements, the autograph art of Ambrosius 'the elder' cannot be confused with that of his three sons and his brother-in-law who were practicing similar themes.
One of these two paintings is a copper 28 x 23 cm. The other example, which has just been identified in a deceased estate where it was previously considered as a work by Brueghel de Velours, is a 29 x 19 cm oil on panel. It will be sold on June 19 in Paris, Hôtel Drouot, by the joint operation of two auction houses, Fraysse and Binoche et Giquello, lot 9.
A bouquet in front of the usual dark background, oil on copper 34 x 23 cm with an unreadable date which is probably 1621, was sold for € 1.7M including premium by Gros et Delettrez on June 1, 2012. A few misses were reported in the catalog.
The tweet below shows a detail.
L’œuvre phare de la vente Binoche & Giquello : "Fleurs coupées dans un Römer posé sur un entablement sur fond de paysage" peinte par Ambrosius #Bosschaert le Vieux sur panneau de chêne vient d'emporter 3 307 800 euros (frais compris) ! pic.twitter.com/noznuDLvUB
— Drouot (@Drouot) June 19, 2019
1629 The Art of Bodegon
2019 SOLD for $ 6.5M including premium
Juan Sanchez Cotan is a painter in Toledo at the time of El Greco. In 1603 he leaves the world to enter as a lay brother in a Carthusian monastery. The inventory made in his studio just after his departure lists 60 paintings including 12 still lifes.
Sanchez Cotan wished to reproduce with the greatest pictorial accuracy some elements of nature that he positions in a balanced composition. Vegetables, fruit and game fowls are laying or hanging in a uniformly gray window frame against a black background. He had invented the bodegon, an unprecedented style in modern painting that anticipates Chardin and Cézanne.
Several originals survive. One of them is dated 1602. Another one, oil on canvas re-sized at 73 x 62 cm after removal of the central part, was sold for £ 4M including premium by Christie's on December 8, 2004.
The growing interest in botanical gardens and cabinets of curiosity led to the still life paintings of flowers and fruit in Flanders and Milan from 1606. In the 1620s the best Spanish continuator to Sanchez Cotan, Juan van der Hamen y Leon, inserts flowers in the bodegones.
In 1626 van der Hamen finds a trick to display complex arrangements in very large formats : he replaces Sanchez Cotan's window by three stone bases of varying heights and widths.
On May 1 in New York, Christie's sells a bodegon of fruit with a large vase of flowers, oil on canvas 86 x 132 cm painted by van der Hamen in 1629, lot 109 estimated $ 6M. Painted in the same year and style by the same artist, a bodegon of fruit with an artichoke, 79 x 100 cm, was sold for € 900K including premium by Christie's on October 6, 2004.
Sanchez Cotan wished to reproduce with the greatest pictorial accuracy some elements of nature that he positions in a balanced composition. Vegetables, fruit and game fowls are laying or hanging in a uniformly gray window frame against a black background. He had invented the bodegon, an unprecedented style in modern painting that anticipates Chardin and Cézanne.
Several originals survive. One of them is dated 1602. Another one, oil on canvas re-sized at 73 x 62 cm after removal of the central part, was sold for £ 4M including premium by Christie's on December 8, 2004.
The growing interest in botanical gardens and cabinets of curiosity led to the still life paintings of flowers and fruit in Flanders and Milan from 1606. In the 1620s the best Spanish continuator to Sanchez Cotan, Juan van der Hamen y Leon, inserts flowers in the bodegones.
In 1626 van der Hamen finds a trick to display complex arrangements in very large formats : he replaces Sanchez Cotan's window by three stone bases of varying heights and widths.
On May 1 in New York, Christie's sells a bodegon of fruit with a large vase of flowers, oil on canvas 86 x 132 cm painted by van der Hamen in 1629, lot 109 estimated $ 6M. Painted in the same year and style by the same artist, a bodegon of fruit with an artichoke, 79 x 100 cm, was sold for € 900K including premium by Christie's on October 6, 2004.
Christie’s to Sell Shickman Collection Led by Spanish Still Lives https://t.co/DUYZZPBEnR pic.twitter.com/xSsE0vtely
— Art Market Monitor (@artmarket) November 21, 2018
1633 Breakfasts by Heda
2015 SOLD for £ 2.95M including premium
Willem Claesz Heda wanted that his paintings closely resemble the real objects. He succeeded in his goal by an extreme care in the textures and a detailed study of the reflections of light.
For four decades, he worked a single theme: the still life of foods and utensils for breakfast on a tablecloth covering almost the entire table. This choice was perhaps inspired by his early training as a painter of vanities. The fruit is ephemeral and the utensil is permanent.
In the 1630s, his composition is rigorous, in a great simplicity which certainly inspired the minimalism of Coorte half a century later. The foods are strictly included within the perimeter lines of the table top. Only the higher part of the utensils and the hanging lemon peel are beyond this zone.
On July 8 in London, Sotheby's sells an oil on panel 59 x 80 cm painted in 1633, lot 12 estimated £ 2M.
This artwork is a good example of Heda's improved realism through a subtle treatment of light. The contrasted areas in the background indicate where daylight comes from. The surrounding that escapes direct vision is however visible in the multiple reflections of a single window, in glasses, silverware and olives but not in pewter.
Subsequent compositions with a crumpled tablecloth and an increased quantity of objects are more complex. The artist desired to demonstrate that his control of geometry could be applied not only to order but also to disorder. An oil on panel 81 x 102 cm painted in 1644 was sold for £ 4.8 million including premium by Christie's on July 8, 2014 over a lower estimate of £ 1.5M.
For four decades, he worked a single theme: the still life of foods and utensils for breakfast on a tablecloth covering almost the entire table. This choice was perhaps inspired by his early training as a painter of vanities. The fruit is ephemeral and the utensil is permanent.
In the 1630s, his composition is rigorous, in a great simplicity which certainly inspired the minimalism of Coorte half a century later. The foods are strictly included within the perimeter lines of the table top. Only the higher part of the utensils and the hanging lemon peel are beyond this zone.
On July 8 in London, Sotheby's sells an oil on panel 59 x 80 cm painted in 1633, lot 12 estimated £ 2M.
This artwork is a good example of Heda's improved realism through a subtle treatment of light. The contrasted areas in the background indicate where daylight comes from. The surrounding that escapes direct vision is however visible in the multiple reflections of a single window, in glasses, silverware and olives but not in pewter.
Subsequent compositions with a crumpled tablecloth and an increased quantity of objects are more complex. The artist desired to demonstrate that his control of geometry could be applied not only to order but also to disorder. An oil on panel 81 x 102 cm painted in 1644 was sold for £ 4.8 million including premium by Christie's on July 8, 2014 over a lower estimate of £ 1.5M.
Still-lifes by Heda are among the greatest achievements of the Dutch C17th. This exquisite example fetches £2.9m pic.twitter.com/ZcjIclHoHb
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) July 8, 2015
1642 Banquet Still Life with Lobster by de Heem
1988 SOLD for $ 6.6M including premium by Christie's
1665-1672 Flowers by de Heem
2012 SOLD for £ 3M including premium by Christie's
Link to catalogue.
1695 A Butterfly in the Still Life of Adriaen Coorte
2014 SOLD for £ 3.45M including premium
Adriaen Coorte has no biography. Fortunately he signed or monogramed his artworks, and some of them were dated from 1683 to 1705. 64 paintings are identified, and no drawing. Unknown to his contemporaries, he is referred only once, in 1695-1696, in Middelburg when the local league of St Luke fines him for an unauthorized sale.
The still lifes by Coorte have neither predecessor nor successor. Most of them show an arrangement of fruit or asparagus on the corner of a stone ledge. From the mid 1690s, his very unusual practice of oil on paper glued on canvas or panel reinforces the assumption that the author is not a professional artist.
The butterfly appears in the same period. In flight, its wings fully open or closed do not bring realism in the composition, following the lush positioning of small animals in the art of van Kessel.
In contrast to the exuberance of van Kessel, Coorte is a minimalist. The careful texture of the fruit with stems and leaves is the unique theme of the composition, but he likes the vertical formats and the butterfly comes to cleverly break the monotony of the upper part of the picture.
Such a decorative research based on a humble iconography anticipates Chardin's researches while no link can be imagined between the Middelburg amateur and the French artist of the following century.
A paper on panel 31 x 23 cm, undated but realized around 1695, showing three peaches and a butterfly, was sold for £ 2.05M including premium by Bonhams on 7 December 2011. This painting is now estimated £ 2M, for sale by Sotheby's in London on December 3, lot 37. The image is shared by Wikimedia:
The still lifes by Coorte have neither predecessor nor successor. Most of them show an arrangement of fruit or asparagus on the corner of a stone ledge. From the mid 1690s, his very unusual practice of oil on paper glued on canvas or panel reinforces the assumption that the author is not a professional artist.
The butterfly appears in the same period. In flight, its wings fully open or closed do not bring realism in the composition, following the lush positioning of small animals in the art of van Kessel.
In contrast to the exuberance of van Kessel, Coorte is a minimalist. The careful texture of the fruit with stems and leaves is the unique theme of the composition, but he likes the vertical formats and the butterfly comes to cleverly break the monotony of the upper part of the picture.
Such a decorative research based on a humble iconography anticipates Chardin's researches while no link can be imagined between the Middelburg amateur and the French artist of the following century.
A paper on panel 31 x 23 cm, undated but realized around 1695, showing three peaches and a butterfly, was sold for £ 2.05M including premium by Bonhams on 7 December 2011. This painting is now estimated £ 2M, for sale by Sotheby's in London on December 3, lot 37. The image is shared by Wikimedia:
1731 Grapes by van Huysum
2005 SOLD for £ 3.76M including premium by Christie's
Link to catalogue.
1808-1812 Dead Hares by Goya
2003 SOLD for $ 5.1M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
In 1808 the outbreak of the war of independence against the French invader had a major impact on the life and art of Goya. His Disasters of War are the most atrocious images in the history of art.
At 62, the artist no longer needs his art to earn a living and, in these difficult circumstances, he has fewer clients. He had a bulimia of innovations throughout his life. He is trying the theme of still life for the first time in his career.
The twelve still lifes painted by Goya surfaced after 1865. They had remained grouped together in the artist's estate and then in a mortgage which had ended in a transfer in favor of a business partner of Mariano, the grandson of the artist.
Goya had attempted in this set to completely renew the theme of still life. Dead animals are no longer decorative objects or hunting trophies, but beings whose lives have been violently taken by humans for culinary purposes. The beginning of the war is the terminus post quem. The terminus ante quem is their reference in an inventory in 1812.
Goya used the best of his pictorial technique, combining veils of color and heavy impastos, placed with brushes, knife and fingers. The animals are different on each opus. The realistic flesh ready for decomposition attests to the importance of death in the artist's creativity.
On January 24, 2003 Christie's sold at lot 136 for $ 5.1M including premium an oil on canvas 45 x 63 cm showing two dead hares lying on top of each other on a table.
At 62, the artist no longer needs his art to earn a living and, in these difficult circumstances, he has fewer clients. He had a bulimia of innovations throughout his life. He is trying the theme of still life for the first time in his career.
The twelve still lifes painted by Goya surfaced after 1865. They had remained grouped together in the artist's estate and then in a mortgage which had ended in a transfer in favor of a business partner of Mariano, the grandson of the artist.
Goya had attempted in this set to completely renew the theme of still life. Dead animals are no longer decorative objects or hunting trophies, but beings whose lives have been violently taken by humans for culinary purposes. The beginning of the war is the terminus post quem. The terminus ante quem is their reference in an inventory in 1812.
Goya used the best of his pictorial technique, combining veils of color and heavy impastos, placed with brushes, knife and fingers. The animals are different on each opus. The realistic flesh ready for decomposition attests to the importance of death in the artist's creativity.
On January 24, 2003 Christie's sold at lot 136 for $ 5.1M including premium an oil on canvas 45 x 63 cm showing two dead hares lying on top of each other on a table.
