Aert Schouman Dordrecht 1710 - 1792 The Hague

Johan Pieter van den Brande, Middelburg;
By descent to E.C. Baron van Pallandt, his sale, Amsterdam, Mak van Waay, 26 September 1972, lot 366, reproduced

Amsterdam/Dordrecht 1994-5, cat. no. 49, reproduced in colour, p. 112

L.J. Bol, 'Aart Schouman "overkunstig schilder in oly en waterverw" VIII. Teken- en aquarelleerkunst; Bloemen, planten en vruchten,' Tableau 9 (1986-7), no. 5, p.79, reproduced colourplate 63;
idem, Aart Schouman; Ingenious Painter and Draughtsman, Doornspijk 1991, p. 77, reproduced p. 79, colourplate 63;
Michiel C. Plomp, Hartstochtelijk verzameld: 18de-eeuwse Hollandse verzamelaar van tekeningen en hun collecties, Paris 2001, p. 251, reproduced p. 252, fig. 176 

In his 1991 monograph on the artist, Laurens Bol (loc. cit.) made the startling observation that although watercolours of birds and animals by Schouman survive in considerable numbers, hardly thirty botanical watercolours are known today. This disparity is particularly surprising given that the 1792 sale of the artist's studio estate had contained no fewer than 268 such works (sale, 's-Gravenhage, Scheurleer, 10-11 December 1792, lots 477-488). In its extraordinarily fresh condition and rich colourism, this is a definitive example of Schouman's mastery of the watercolour medium.  As in the case of the drawings by Anton Henstenburgh (lots 192-3), it seems likely that this watercolour was purchased directly from the artist by the collector Johan Pieter van den Brande, of Middelburg (see notes to lots 43, 92 and 194, and also the general introduction to lots 204-224, above).