Galerie Dreyfus
90
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JACOB VAN HULSDONCK (ANTWERP, 1582 – ANTWERP, 1647)
Still Li…
See original version (French)
90
-
JACOB VAN HULSDONCK (ANTWERP, 1582 – ANTWERP, 1647)
Still Li…
See original version (French)
Estimate €120,000 - €150,000
Voluntary lot
Description
JACOB VAN HULSDONCK
(ANTWERP, 1582 – ANTWERP, 1647)
Still Life with Peaches
c. 1630–40
Oil on panel
68.6 x 89 cm
Provenance
Benedict Collection;
Maurice Segoura, Paris, 1984.
Exhibition
Galerie de l’Elysée, Paris, December 1950, no. 14
Peaches, as well as apricots, plums, a few cherries and even grapes,
fill a wicker basket and a Chinese porcelain bowl to overflowing. So much so that they
spill over and roll onto a table, where they join a few hazelnuts. All these fruits, which
already herald autumn, symbolise abundance. Beyond any symbolic significance,
they take on a decorative role here, their golden hues serving as a pretext for a
palette of orange-yellows. The care taken by the painter to render their textures—by turns
fluffy and glossy—offers a delight to behold. These fruits, which evoke as much
the earthly paradise as the collector’s opulence, thus serve as a pretext for asserting
social status and allegiance to the Reformed faith, which favours still lifes
to avoid any explicit representation of the divine. The discreet presence of the
Chinese porcelain bowl is also a social marker revealing the openness to the world of a
prosperous Dutch bourgeoisie, thanks to the Dutch East India Company’s imports of
goods from the Far East.
Jacob van Hulsdonck (1582–1647) was a Flemish painter, born in Antwerp. It was in Middelburg that he
trained under Ambrosius Bosschaert (1573–1621) in the art of still-life painting, which
he would go on to specialise in. In this port city, a rival to Amsterdam, there was an abundance of exotic goods and
staples, notably Chinese porcelain, which would become a recurring motif in his
compositions. On his return to Antwerp, Jacob van Hulsdonck joined the painters’ guild in
1608 and, from 1613 to 1623, ran a thriving studio, renowned for the refinement of his
still lifes of flowers and fruit. His compositions, influenced by Balthasar van der Alst (1593–1657),
were to have a lasting legacy through his pupil Isaak Soreau (1604–1644) and later through Frans Snyders
(1579–1657). His masterpieces are held at the Paul Getty Museum and the National Gallery
in Washington.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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