Old Master Paintings

/

Lot 11
  • 11

Johannes Bosschaert Middelburg 1610/11 - after 1628 Dordrecht?

bidding is closed

Description

  • Johannes Bosschaert
  • Still life of flowers in a basket on a stone ledge, including roses, irises, fritallary, tulips, lily of the valley, columbine, French marigold, lily and briar-rose, with butterflies, a queen wasp and a salamander
  • oil on oak panel

Provenance

Comte Perregaux, Paris, 1841;
M. Nieuwenhuys, 1861;
George Lazarus Esq., Chesham Bois, 1956;
With E. Slatter, London, 1957;
In the collection of the present owner's family since 1957.

Exhibited

Bath, Victoria Art Gallery, Coronation Exhibition of Flower Paintings, 1953, no. 2;
London, Eugene Slatter Gallery, Exhibition of Dutch and Flemish Masters, 1957, cat. no. 31;
Manchester Art Gallery, 1965.

Literature

L.J. Bol, The Bosschaert Dynasty, Leigh-on-Sea 1960, p. 89, cat. no. 8 (as 63 by 79 cm, thus prior to the extension).

Catalogue Note

Nothing is known of Johannes Bosschaert's chronology after 1627, when his last picture is dated.1 Born in Middleburg in 1610/11, Johannes was the second son of Ambrosius the Elder, and as a child he evidently trained in his father's workshop until 1621 when, only 10 or 11 years old, his father suddenly died. He probably moved to Utrecht soon afterwards to be brought up by his uncle, Balthasar van der Ast and it must have been after several years under his guidance that Johannes produced his first dated paintings (1625) at the age of only 14 or 15. The influence of Van der Ast resonates strongly throughout his small oeuvre. After 1627 there is no trace of Johannes, although three of his paintings are listed in the inventory made at the death of Gijsbrecht van Beaumont of Dordrecht in 1648, and it may be that, after finishing his training with his uncle, he moved to that town, only a few miles to the south-west.

We are grateful to Fred G. Meijer for endorsing the attribution to Johannes Bosschaert following first hand inspection.


1 Laurens J. Bol considered his last dated picture to be 1628; however, when the painting sold New York, Sotheby's, 28 January 1999, lot 230 (for $825,000) it became clear that Bol had read the date wrong and it was in fact dated 1626.