Jan van Huysum

Dr. Helmut Domizlaff collection, Munich;
with Arnoldi-Livie, Munich, 1988, cat. no. 4;
with Noortman Master Paintings, One Hundred Master Paintings, exhib. cat., Maastricht, 2005, pp. 176-179, no. 50 (catalogue by E. Schavemaker);
from whom acquired by a European private collector

Delft, Museum Het Prinsenhof and Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, The Temptations of Flora, Jan van Huysum, 1682-1749, 2006-7, no. F37

S. Segal, Flowers and Nature -- Netherlandish Flower Painting of Four Centuries, exhib. cat., Nabio Museum of Art et al., 1990, pp. 242-3 (note 2), reproduced fig. 68a

Overall condition very good and fresh. Colors not faded, generally considerably stronger than in catalogue illustration. Hinged to backing at top edge. Remains of old glue from previous mounting visible verso, in all four corners. Some very light foxing but paper otherwise in good condition. Sold in an elaborate 19th century carved and gilded frame.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Flower drawings by Van Huysum are very rare, and elaborate watercolors such as the present work particularly so: only one comparable sheet has been sold at auction in the past 20 years.¹  The relatively small number of drawings by the artist that do survive vary considerably in degree of finish.  Some, usually monochrome, are very loose and sketchy, while others are carefully worked up in full color and great detail.  The present drawing, with its extensive compositional elaboration in color but clearly visible, animated underdrawing, falls somewhere in the middle of this technical range.

The precise role played by drawings in Van Huysum's creative process is somewhat ambiguous.  In certain cases, the artist seems to have made true preparatory sketches, but he also clearly made drawings as finished works in their own right, and as ricordi of his painted compositions.  In the present case, the drawing is clearly too spontaneous to be a ricordo, and must have served as a preparatory study for a painting in the Louvre, also dated 1733, which largely follows the composition, but varies in a number of details, particularly towards the top, where the painting includes two butterflies and additional flowers.²  Many of the compositional elements seen here reappear in another, highly finished watercolour in the Teylers Museum, Haarlem, once again dated 1733, which Segal considers to have been made as a further, independent work of art.³  Finally, another watercolour from the same year, also representing a similar basket of flowers, is in Frankfurt.⁴   

Although we know relatively few drawings by Van Huysum, none of the other leading painters from the great age of Dutch still-life seem to have drawn even as much as he did.  This fine, perfectly preserved watercolor therefore stands as a rare monument to this distinctive aspect of a quintessentially Dutch art form, the flower-piece. 

1.  New York, Christie's, 24 January 2006, lot 82
2.  Paris, Musée du Louvre, inv. no. 1385; Segal, op. cit., p. 266, fig. 37.2
3.  Segal, op. cit., no. F38
4.  Städelsches Kunstinstitut, inv. no. 826