Jan Fyt

Anonymous sale, Brussels, Giroux, 12 March 1927, lot 32 (Un des chefs-d'œuvre du maître);

With Karl Haberstock, Berlin, 1929;

Baron Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, Villa Favorita, Castagnola, Switzerland, by 1930;

Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 3 June 1988, lot 136, where bought by the father of the present owners.

Munich, Neue Pinakothek, Sammlung Schloss Rohoncz, 1930, no. 116.

R. Heinemann, Sammlung Schloss Rohoncz, Zurich 1937, cat. no. 145;

Idem, 1958, cat. no. 145;

E. Greindl, Les Peintres Flamands de nature morte au XVIIe siècle, Brussels 1956, p. 161;

H. Gerson, in 'Jan Fyt', Kindlers Malerei-Lexikon, 1965, vol. II, p. 514, reproduced in colour p. 513;

J. C. Ebbinge-Wubben, in R. Heinemann (ed.), The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, 1969, vol. I, p. 118, cat. no. 103, reproduced vol. II, plate 191;

E. Greindl, Les Peintres Flamands de nature morte au XVIIe siècle, Sterrebeek 1983, p. 350.

The canvas has a firm old relining whic is sound. The paint surface is in excellent state, with impasto preserved. There are a few isolated spot retouchings along the right margin, and a 2x2 cm repaired hole lower right corner. There is possibly a repair, possibly to an old hole in the centre measuring 9x9cm, otherwise the paint surface has been extremely well-preserved.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

After Frans Snyders, his teacher, Jan Fyt is the best known and most accomplished painter of gamepieces in the southern Netherlands. His highly distinctive technique, with frenetic nervous brushstrokes, and his freer and more Baroque compositional style differ radically from those of Snyders, perhaps as a result of an Italian journey in the mid-1630s.

This picture perfectly exemplifies his exuberent and optimistic artistic personality. As J. C. Ebbinge-Wubben put it in his entry for the picture in the Thyssen-Bornemisza catalogue, 'he joins a sense of decorative beauty with a great freedom in construction, a warm colouring and a rich shading of the matière of the past. By contrasting the three hounds to the dead game Fyt achieves a greater liveliness and naturalness in the picture; for the same reason he put the hunting still life against a landscape background'.