Bouquet of Flowers in a Niche
Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (1573–1621)
c. 1616/19
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Ambrosius Bosschaert was the founder and most gifted member of an artistic dynasty of Dutch still-life painters, which comprised his sons Ambrosius the Younger, Johannes, and Abraham, and his brother-in-law, Balthasar van der Ast. He was among the first artists to specialise in the painting of still life, which only truly came into its own as a separate artistic genre towards the end of the sixteenth century. Prior to that time, there had been very occasional experiments in independent still life, but in the main such subjects as flowers or fruit only featured as elements within larger compositions in the established genres of religious art, mythology, and portraiture.
Within the field of still life, Ambrosius confined himself to the painting of flower still lifes, of which this is a singularly subtle and fine example. Framed by a curved stone niche, the flowers explode out of a murky glass vase, within which their bunched stems may just be discerned. They are almost without exception irises, roses, and – still a novelty at this date – tulips, and are few in number. This means that each bloom is in effect singled out for individual contemplation, but on the other hand their colour range is wide, with plain whites, cool blues, and pale pinks set against hot and radiant reds, yellows, and oranges. In addition to the flowers, Bosschaert has also included a choice selection of insects: a spectacular beetle at top left; a caterpillar crawling along a tulip stem; a spider; a fly; and a cricket. At the base of the composition, the artist has signed his work ‘AB.’ in the form of a monogram explicitly based upon that of arguably the greatest of all observers of the minutiae of the natural world, namely Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528).
- Material/technique
- oil on panel
- Measurements
- 35.1 × 22.9 cm
- Acquisition
- acquired in 2000 by Prince Hans-Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein
- Artists/makers/authors
- Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder
- Inventory number
- GE 57
- Signature/inscriptions content only available in German
- links unten bez.: AB. (ligiert)
- Provenance
-
1923 Walter Steer Collection, Bournemouth; 23. 11. 1956
Sale Walter Steer Collection, Christie's London, lot 110; art dealer
Duits, London; Sidney J. van den Bergh, Wassenaar; art trade
Speelman, London; acquired before 2000, private collection, USA; acquired in 2000 from
Nissl Gallery, Eschen
- Iconography
- Still life of flowers
Marie-Louise Hairs, Les peintres flamands de fleurs au XVIIe Siècle, Paris - Bruxelles 1955, S. 1589
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Irene Haberland, (1) Ambrosius Bosschaert (i), in: Jane Turner (Hg.), The Dictionary of Art, London–New York 1996, Bd. 4, S. 466–467, 467
Ausst.-Kat. Het Hollandse Stilleven 1150-1950, erschienen Eindhoven 1957, Kat. 11
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Ausst.-Kat. Twe Nederlandse collecties schilderijen, erschienen Laren 1959, Abb. 17, Kat. 29
L.J. Bol, The Bosschaert Dynasty. Painters of flowers and fruit, Leigh-on-Sea 1960, S. 21-22, 29 u. 65, Abb. Nr. 34, Taf. 22 (als 1616-19 datiert)
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Ausst.-Kat. Crown of the Alps. Masterworks from the Collections of the Prince of Liechtenstein, National Palace Museum, Taipei 17.4.2015–31.8.2015, erschienen Taipei City 2015, S. 164–165, Kat.-Nr. 54
Ausst.-Kat. Von Rubens bis Makart. Die Fürstlichen Sammlungen Liechtenstein, Klaus Albrecht Schröder (Hg.), Albertina, Wien 16.2.2019–10.6.2019, erschienen Köln 2019, S.105–107, Kat.-Nr. 19
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