Lot 15
  • 15

Paul Theodor van Brussel

Estimate
150,000 - 200,000 USD
Log in to view results
bidding is closed

Description

  • Paul Theodor van Brussel
  • Still Life of Flowers and Fruits on a Marble Ledge
  • signed and dated bottom center: P:T: van Brussel fecit 1787
  • oil on panel

Provenance

Adrian Hope, England, until 1894; 
His sale, London, Christie's, 30 June 1894, lot 5, to Rothschild;
Alfred de Rothschild, London (d. 1918);
By whom bequeathed to his daughter, Almina, Countess of Carnarvon, London, 1918;
By whom sold London, Christie's, 31 May 1918, lot 135;
Sir William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (d. 1925), Wirral, Cheshire; 
His sale, New York, Anderson Galleries, 19 February 1926, lot 273, to Mrs. A. C. Leeds, for $750;
Arthur Keating, Chicago, by 1948;
By whom given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1948 (inv. no. 1948.569).

Literature

"Auction Reports: Leverhulme Paintings," in Art News, 24, no. 21, 1926, pp. 10-11.

Condition

Panel is uncradled and beveled on all four sides. there is excellent preservation of the paint surface with lovely detail throughout and strong coloration. examination under ultraviolet shows only a few minor retouches on poppy at right side and a few other isolated ones scattered. there is no further work needed and painting can be hung as is. In a carved and gilt wood frame.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Van Brussel began his career painting and designing wallpaper in Haarlem. After his marriage in 1774, he began to specialize in fruit and flower easel pictures. These pictures, of which the present work is a particularly well preserved and exquisitely detailed example, reflect the influence of Jan van Os and Jan van Huysum.

A copy of this work, also signed and dated 1787, was sold along with a companion piece in Christie's Amsterdam, 6 May 2008, lot 173, as Studio of van Brussel. Fred Meijer has suggested that many of the inferior copies which often times bear van Brussel signatures may in fact be tentatively ascribed to Johannes Christianus Roedig (1751-1802). The connection between these two artists remains somewhat of a mystery, as van Brussel worked in Haarlem and Roedig in The Hague.

We are grateful to Fred Meijer, of the RKD, for supporting the attribution to van Brussel, based on photographs.