Balthasar van der Ast Middelberg 1593/94 - 1657 Delft

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Description

Balthasar van der Ast
A still life with sprays of apples, peaches, pears, apricots, plums, greengages, lemons, redcurrants, grapes and other fruit arranged in a decorated basalt urn, with shells, a red parrot perched on quinces, a lemon and an open pomegranate, a lizard and insects, all upon a stone ledge, a curtain to the left
signed lower right: B. van der Ast
oil on canvas

Provenance

Believed to have been acquired by a member of the Van Hoorn family in the late 18th Century, and certainly in the collectin of Lady Adolphine Westpalm van Hoorn van Burgh (1852-1941);
Thence by descent until sold, New York, Sotheby's, 1 June 1990, lot 19, for $250,000.

Catalogue Note

This is one of a small number of large-scale upright compositions of fruit or flowers painted by Van der Ast. In one such work, formerly in the Fermor-Hesketh collection¹, flowers are displayed in a basalt vase similar to the present one, and both compositions are partly framed with a curtain. Although he did not paint many of them, Van der Ast made a speciality of painting lavish sprays of mixed fruit arranged in the manner of flowers in a vase; very few such pictures are known by any other artist. No comparable painting by Van der Ast is dated, but in view of their sophistication, it is reasonable to suppose that these are mature works, dating from the 1630s.

The Van Hoorn family (see Provenance) produced Regents and Directors of the Dutch East Indies Company for five successive generations, beginning with Jacob van Hoorn (1629-1691), who was Dutch Ambassador at the Court of St. James in London during the reign of Charles II. This picture is believed to have been bought by the family during the 18th Century.

1 Offered London, Christie's, 13 December 1991, lot 14, estimate £450,000-500,000, unsold.