Tomás Hiepes

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This still life is not in particularly good condition but the retouching and the lining do not necessarily show the picture in its best light. Although there are no visible structural damages the cracking, which as been suppressed by the lining, has attracted some thinness to the paint layer and this abrasion has compromised the strings on the guitar and other details. More enthusiastic and focused fine retouching will present all of the numerous details throughout in a considerably better way but the retouching at present does not help the painting.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Tomás Hiepes was the dominant figure in the development of still life painting in Valencia in the 17th century. In October 1616 he was admitted to the Colegio de Pintores in Valencia, and although we have little more information about his life, his paintings deeply affected the work of other artists in and around Valencia. Writing in 1656, the local chronicler Marco Antonio Orti described him as '..the painter who in this line of the imitation of fruits has succeeded in acquiring a very singular fame and reputation', while in his Vida de los pintores, arquitectos, escueltores y grabadores valencianos, Marcos Antonio de Orellana (1731-1813) wrote: 'His flowers are subtle, translucent and light, his fruits very natural and everything done with admirable perfection. His paintings are equally copious as they are esteemed and celebrated, and one does not see baskets with fruit, flowers etc.,...and other similar things which are well executed in conformity with the real things, without thinking and esteeming them to be works by Yepes'.

The present work is one of the artist's most complex which utilizes a terraced composition, thus allowing Hiepes to include an abundance of still life elements. The picture may also be an allusion to the transience of life, as he includes numerous worldly objects, but also a dying candle and an hourglass.

We are grateful to William Jordan for confirming the attribution of the present work to Hiepes, based on first hand inspection.