L10237

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Lot 367
  • 367

Willem van Leen

Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 GBP
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Description

  • Willem van Leen
  • A still life with roses, hyacinths, auricula, pink peonies, forget-me-nots and buttercups in a stone vase, on a stone ledge together with a dunnock's nest and a dragonfly
  • signed lower right: Van Leen f
  • oil on panel

Provenance

H.P. Bremmer (1871-1956), The Hague;
Mrs. G. P. van Stolk, Rotterdam;
Thence by descent to the present owner.

Catalogue Note

Willem van Leen was born in Dordrecht in 1753 and after his initial apprenticeship with three local teachers, he went to Paris for the first time in 1773 to study with Gerard van Spaendonck (1746-1822). Van Leen worked alternately in Holland and Paris but left the French capital at the outbreak of the Revolution in 1789. He settled in Delfshaven where he was also active as an art dealer and an auctioneer. In that time he acquired a number of pupils, such as Gerrit Jan van Leeuwen (1756-1825).

Van Leen specialized in depicting flower and fruit pieces, in paintings, watercolours and black-chalk drawings, and he also decorated French snuff-boxes with flowers. Dated works by the artist are known from 1785 to 1821. Van Leen's oeuvre is distinguished by a softness of touch, quite different from the precision and accuracy found in the work of Gerard van Spaendonck. Van Leen seems at his best on panels of a smaller format, such as the present work, which shows a light, airy background which sets the key for the delicate, pastel colours of the flowers.