Jakob Bogdány Eperjes circa 1660 - 1724 London

Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 10 July 2002, lot 69, for £116,650 (sold as one of a pair).

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The original canvas is lined and the paint layer is stable. Under U-V light a dense scattering of retouchings can be seen in the sky where there has been the reduction of canvas weave under thin paint. Some of the paint of the flowers has been compromised e.g. the centre of the sunflower , the shadows underneath the open poppies and the orange carnations. There is a moderately discoloured varnish, its removal would enhance the tonality."
"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."

Jakob Bogdány was born in Eperjes, Northern Hungary (present day Slovakia) and, although little is known of his early life and artistic training, we know that by 1684 he had left Hungary and was working in Amsterdam, perhaps as a result of Catholic persecution. He shared a residence in Amsterdam with the German painter Ernst Stuven (1660-1712) and by 1688 he had settled definitively in England, where he was known as 'The Hungarian'. He became a much sought after still life and bird painter and was patronised by the Royal family. One of his early commissions in England was a set of flower decorations painted in 1694 for Mary II's Looking-glass Closet in the Thames Gallery at Hampton Court (see O. Millar, Pictures in the Royal Collection: Tudor, Stuart and Early Georgian Pictures, 1963, p. 165, cat. no. 471).

The strong diagonal emphasis in this composition, the Baroque movement, lighter palette and parkland setting are also present in Bogdány's pendant to this work which, having been separated from the present painting at the time of the 2002 sale (see Provenance), was sold subsequently at London, Christie's, 21 April 2004, lot 50. The light background in these paintings may have been influenced by the famous Amsterdam flower painter Jan van Huysum (1682-1749), who introduced similar light backgrounds into his work in the 1720s. However, in these two paintings, which probably date from quite late in Bogdány's career, the artist may simply be responding to the growing vogue for lighter colours in English decoration.