Georg Flegel

Anonymous Sale, Berlin, Galerie Bassenge, 27 May 2011, lot 6026.

The following condition report is provided by Hamish Dewar who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: Structural Condition The artist's panel has two vertical batons on the reverse and is providing a secure and stable structural support. There is evidence of two horizontal repaired splits in the panel which have been successfully secured and no further structural intervention is required. Paint Surface The paint surface has a slightly uneven varnish layer and revarnishing would be beneficial to ensure a more even surface coating. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows very small scattered spots and lines of inpainting which appear to be quite recently applied. There would also appear to be an earlier phase of retouchings which are primarily in the background and table top, the largest of which is in the lower right quadrant just to the right of the plate in the lower right of the composition. There are also fine lines covering the partial splits mentioned above. There may be other retouchings beneath old opaque varnish layers which are not identifiable under ultra-violet light but I could find no evidence of any significant retouchings on the details of the still life which appear to be in good condition with little evidence of abrasion or over cleaning. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in good and stable condition and the only work that might be required is revarnishing.
"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."

The unadorned presentation and unpretentious simplicity of so many of Georg Flegel's still life paintings make him one of the most individual practioners of the art in the seventeenth century.  He was moreover one of the earliest still life painters, and he had a widespread influence on younger artists.  The contemplative character of his works, and their essential stillness, is remarkable when one considers that he was painting in the Protestant refuge of Hanau throughout the ravages of the Thirty Years War that caused so much destruction throughout most of Northern Europe, and it is tempting to see his work as an introverted  reaction to these horrifying contemporary events.

The son of a Moravian shoemaker, Flegel moved to Vienna after 1580 and became the assistant of Lucas van Valckenborch, for whom, for example, he painted the still-life elements in his large canvases of the seasons. He followed Valckenborch to Frankfurt, then an important centre for art dealing and publishing, where he came into contact with other still-life painters working there such as Pieter Binoit and Daniel Soreau. 

It is not easy to date Flegel's still lifes, for of his surviving works only those painted between 1635 and 1638 are dated. The simple symmetrical arrangement of the five principal elements of the still life, bisected by elements such as the knife, is consistent throughout his career, but while some individual elements can be found in other works, others seem to be unique to this painting. The salt or condiment dish, with its distinctive sphinx feet, is also found in a signed and dated Still life with a fish of 1637 in the Historisches Museum in Frankfurt.¹  Similarly, the knife and fork may have belonged to a set owned by Flegel, for the former recurs in a Still life with a dish of eggs in the Staatsgemäldesammlung, Aschaffenburg.² The capon is found in many of Flegel's collaborations with Valckenborch, but also recurs as an individual motif in later works, such as a Still life with capon and flowers, of the early 1630s.³ The motif of an object resting upon a loaf of bread, here the dish with the artichoke, is likewise to be found in a number of other paintings from throughout his career. The motifs of the artichoke itself, however, as well as the dish of oysters do not find ready parallels in his œuvre, and appear to be unique. The use of the brazier may also be restricted to this one example, although another burner is to be found in a panel of 1637 formerly in the Fürstenburg Princely Collections.⁴ In all of these works, Flegel displays his characteristic interest in the depiction of textures and light, combined with a precise attention to the smallest details. The subdued tonality and the distinctively low key palette are typical of Flegel's maturity in the late 1620s and 1630s, as is the use of a panel made from copper beech.

The attribution to Flegel has been confirmed by Prof. Dr. Kurt Wettengl following first-hand inspection of the original, and a copy of his expertise, dated October 2011 accompanies this lot. Prof. Wettengl suggests a date of execution to around 1635 for this picture, and will be including it in his forthcoming Gesamtverzeichnis of the works of Georg Flegel. 

1. See K. Wettengl in the catalogue of the exhibition, Georg Flegel 1566–1638. Stilleben, Stuttgart 1993, revised edition 1999, p. 149, no. 58, reproduced. 
2. A-D. Ketelsen-Volkhardt, Georg Flegel 1566–1638, Berlin 2003, p. 235, cat. no. 41, reproduced in colour plate 14.
3. Present whereabouts unknown. Sold Vienna, Dorotheum, 17 October 1995, lot 195.
4. Wettengl, op. cit., 1999, p. 146, cat. no. 55, reproduced.  This picture was sold in these Rooms in 1982.