Pedro de Camprobín

Luis Cárabe, Madrid;
From whom acquired by Rodman Rockefeller, New York, 1950's;
By whom anonymously sold ("Property of a Distinguished Family, New York"), New York, Sotheby's, 28 January 1999, lot 247, for $145,500;
There purchased by the present owner.

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 pair has probably not recently been restored. Both pictures are dirty and may even retain an original dirt layer. Nonetheless, the lining and restoration are effective and look well. Given the amount of cracking and slight discoloration to some of the background it may be a consideration to leave these two works alone and hang them as they are. They are certainly in very healthy condition. The green foliage in both paintings has discolored, but has remained strong nonetheless. The small amount of restoration that has been added is very effective. Needless to say one could clean the pictures and they would brighten, but this cleaning would need to be carefully done.
"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."

Pedro de Camprobín was born in Ciudad Real to a goldsmith and a woman of Genoese origin who was from a family of artists. He entered the Toldeo studio of Luis Tristán in 1619, and was in Seville in 1630 where he was sponsored by Alonso Cano to join the oocal painter's guild. He was later, along with Murillo, Valdes-Leal and Herrera the Younger, one of the founders of the Seville Academy.

The present works are typical of Camprobín's hieratic and sometimes slightly archaizing style. He favored the use of the severely waisted gilt vases which he uses in the present works (perhaps favored by him because of his father's métier), as well as small pieces of Venetian glass or porcelain with smaller sprays of flowers. The use of the architectural backgrounds in the present pair, with their exaggerated sense of perspective, is rather rare in Spanish still life of the moment, and may be seen in a few other works by the artist in private collections (see A.E. Perez Sanchez, La Nature Morte Espagnole du XVIIe siècle à Goya, 1987, p. 101, reproduced, figs. 90-1; and B. Jordan and P. Cherry, Spanish Still Life from Velázquez to Goya, exhibition catalogue, 1995, p. 115, reproduced, fig. 88). Jordan and Cherry date one of these paintings to circa 1665 and it would seem reasonable to date the present pair to about the same moment.

Based on firsthand inspection, William Jordan supports the attribution of this pair of paintings to Camprobín.