Adriaen Coorte

Jan Smit;
His sale, Dordrecht, A. Mak, 12-14 December 1950, lot 2;
H.F. van Walsem, Eindhoven, by 1958;
Thence by descent to the present owner.

Dordrecht, Dordrechts Museum, Adriaen Coorte: Stillevenschilder, 1958, no. 3.

L.J. Bol, 'Adriaan S. Coorte, stillevenschilder,' in Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, no. 4, 1952-3, p. 214, no. 8;
L. Bol, in Adriaen Coorte: Stillevenschilder, exhibition catalogue, Dordrecht 1958, pp. 12-13, no. 3, reproduced;
K. Müllenmeister, 'Adriaen Coorte' in Weltkunst, 45, October 1975, p. 1603;
L.J. Bol, Adriaen Coorte: A Unique Late Seventeenth Century Dutch Still-Life Painter, Assen 1977, pp. 5, 15 (notes 29. 30, 32), 46, no. 13, reproduced fig. 9;
S. Segal, in N. Bakker et al, Masters of Middelburg: Exhibition in the honour of Laurens J. Bol, exhibition catalogue, Amsterdam 1984, p. 90;
Q. Buvelot, The still lifes of Adriaen Coorte (active c.1683-1707) with oeuvre catalogue, exhibition catalogue, Zwolle pp. 32 (note 92), 88, no. 11, reproduced p. 89, no. 11.

"The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has a firm lining, which is not very recent and an older stretcher. The tacking edges of the lining have been protected with a linen band. The fine texture has been carefully preserved without any crushing of the delicate, minute, even craquelure. The varnish is not very recent either, but remains quite translucent and mellow. Great care has clearly always been taken, with minimal past intervention. A slight previous tendency to brittleness in the craquelure, secured since by lining, seems to have lead to faintly fractured crackle in one or two little places: in the background near the top right corner and perhaps in the upper centre of the background near the top edge. The shadow on the ledge may also have had a little craquelure needing consolidation and slight retouching, as also a small matt place in the central background. The only actual loss of old flakes seems to have been in the yellow plum above the grapes by the left edge, where there is a retouched filling. The base edge may also have some old retouching, but this has not affected the signature, which is crisp. The fluorescence of the varnish under ultra violet light has made any older retouching rather more obscure, showing just an occasional minute more recent retouching, and that the central curl of the vine leaf has been slightly more recently cleaned. The extraordinarily intact quality of this painting suggests that it has rarely been touched, apart from the minimal, largely preventative measures mentioned above. There may be some slight imperfection in the shadow on the ledge and perhaps marginally in the surface of the apricots on the left, but the velvet texture of the peaches and unbroken glazing in the vine leaves, as well as such beautifully detailed description as of the fig in the foreground all remain in rare unworn condition, as does the overall unity of the painting. This report was not done under laboratory conditions."
"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."

Any discussion of Coorte's work usually starts with observations about how little we know of his life, and reflects on the mysterious qualities of his works, and how they appear to exist in isolation, without obvious influences from other artists (and without in turn exerting influence on others), characteristics perhaps due in part to his presumed career in geographically isolated Middelburg and the possibility that since he was not a member of the painter's Guild painting may not have been his sole profession.  A mere 64 pictures by him are known today, and there is no doubt they constitute a remarkable body of work, one of rigorously restricted subject matter, concentrated simplicity of treatment and high technical accomplishment.  Most of what we do know of him, and moreover the high esteem in which he is now held as a still life painter of outstanding quality and originality, is due to the work of Laurens J. Bol (1898-1994), Director of the Dordrechts Museum for many years, who first wrote about Coorte in 1952, and who mounted the first exhibition devoted to him in 1958.  The present picture was included in that exhibition, but it vanished from view thereafter, and has been discussed in subsequent literature on the basis of a black and white photograph – plus perhaps a recollection of it in the minds of older scholars.

Apart from a few early works featuring poultry and other birds in landscape settings which reveal such a strong influence from Melchior de Hondecoeter that it is usually assumed that he worked in the latter's studio in Amsterdam, Coorte's subject-matter is restricted to still lifes of strictly limited themes: asparagus, wild strawberries (then the only kind), fruit including medlars, peaches, apricots, red- and blackcurrants, cherries (occasionally), gooseberries, grapes, and peaches (but excluding apples, and with one exception, citrus fruit), and shells, a distinct sub-genre.  It is tempting to speculate that his subject matter was determined by the seasons.  If so, he would have painted shells in winter when no fruit were available, asparagus from late April to early June, strawberries in June and July, other fruit from late summer to early autumn, and grapes and medlars in early autumn (the latter are best picked after they have been touched by the first frost).  The combinations of fruit chosen by Coorte bear this out.  For example, asparagus and strawberries often appear together, sometimes with gooseberries and red- and blackcurrants (which are more easily forced in a greenhouse), but never in combination with late summer or autumn fruits.  He painted a few pictures of nuts, available throughout the autumn.

In view of the fruit depicted, this picture was therefore most probably painted in the late summer or early autumn of 1688.  It is the only one of Coorte's known pictures to include a melon, and appears to be the only one to include a fig.  The inclusion of such fruit perhaps reflects their availability, although one would assume that figs were grown locally then as now.  Such fruit, and those yet more exotic, do occur in the works of other Dutch and Flemish still life painters, and indeed it is a commonplace that Jan Davidsz. de Heem moved to Antwerp because of the rich profusion of imported fruits and other produce in the city's markets, but perhaps they were not so often seen in Middelburg in the more turbulent circumstances of the 1680s.

The present work is consistent in style (as well as the form of its signature and date) with other of Coorte's works on canvas from 1685-7, which typically have a dark green background.¹  It is the latest dated work before his style and form of signature seems to have changed, as well as his preferred support, since the majority of his works after the 1680s are on paper, laid down then or later on panel or canvas.   

1. See for example the two still lifes with suspended twigs of apricots (and cherries) and medlars in private collectuions in Engalnd and the U.S.A.; see Buvelot under Literature, p. 86, nos. 6 & 7, reproduced in colour p. 87.