Jacob Marrel

Dr. D. van Beuningen, Schiedam;
G. Eristoff, Paris, until 1972;
With David Koetser Gallery, Zürich, 1973;
With Galerie Müllenmeister, Solingen, 1977;
With K. & V. Waterman, Amsterdam, 1980;
Freiherr von Oppenheim, Cologne;
With P. de Boer, Amsterdam, by 2000;
Private Collection.

Cologne, 8. Westdeutsche Kunstmesse Köln, 12-20 March 1977;
Munich, Niederlandische Stilleben des 17. Jahrhundert, 1980, reproduced in the catalogue, p. 13.

E. Gemar-Koeltzsch, Holländische Stillebenmaler im 17. Jahrhundert, Lingen 1995, vol. 3, p. 635, no. 225/9.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has been recently restored and should be hung as is. The canvas has a recent glue lining. The paint layer is stable and the canvas is well supported by the lining. Under ultraviolet light, a few spots of retouching are visible in the side of the table. Elsewhere in the picture the varnish reads slightly milky under ultraviolet light, but in the right side of the still life in the center, in the background and in some of the fronds, restorations are visible yet do not seem to address any significant structural issue. There are very often retouches in the backgrounds of these compositions. The flowers themselves seem to be well preserved. Despite the fact that beneath this milky varnish there may be a few further restorations, overall we are very comfortable with the condition.
"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."

Among Jacob Marrel's earliest dated paintings is the Still Life with a Vase of Flowers and a Dead Frog in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv. no. A772).  Signed and dated Iacobus Marrellus Fecit Utreck Anno 1634, this piece is indicative of the influence that the work of Roelandt Savery and Ambrosius Bosschaert the Younger had on the young Marrel.  Primarily a painter of flowers, Marrel was likely the a student of Georg Flegel in Frankfurt, before moving to Utrecht in 1632.  Although he occasionally painted game, fruit and vanitas subjects, his numerous vases of flowers and tulip books are his enduring legacy.  Marrel's arrangements are frequently seasonally accurate, such as his Cartouche with Flower Decoration and Imaginary Architecture (Darmstadt, Hessisches Landesmuseum, inv. no. GK 316), which all bloom in the Spring.  Towards the end of his time in Utrecht, he also became fascinated with the art of Jan Davidsz. de Heem, and on occassion created copies of his paintings. 

The present work is typical of Marrel's flower compositions:  the large irises and tulips near the top of the bouquet create a strong vertical axis around which the artist has grouped smaller assymetrical clusters of flowers, including roses, a carnation, narcissus, hyacinthe, anemones and rosemary.  This lends the arrangement a pleasing, organic quality, as do the vibrant colors:  the blues and yellows that predominate in the the flowers in the top- and right-most sections are balanced by the area of whites, reds and pinks that streak from the left up through the center of the bouquet.  The whole is beautifully lit from the left so that the vase casts a dramatic shadow towards the right background.  A dating of circa 1650 has been suggested for this work based on the reflection of the window, modeled on a German type, found on the glass vase.  This suggests that the work would have been painted shortly after Marrel's return to Frankfurt in 1650.