Jan Fyt

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 work has survived beautifully. The wooden panel on which it is painted has been gessoed and thinly painted on the reverse. No panel joins are visible, although there presumably is one. The painting is dirty, but the paint layer is in fantastic condition. The incredible detail within the still life is perfectly preserved. When the picture is cleaned, it is doubtful that any retouches of any consequence will be required.
"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."

In this tour de force, Jan Fyt has turned a game piece into an outdoor drama.  A hunter has set his game bag on the ground and left the recently shot hare and birds, assuming they would not be disturbed. However a cat approaches from the right, creeping over the fallen log, his eyes on the small birds piled below him.   Fyt presents the scene to us as an extraordinary array of tone and texture.  The background is conceived in dark earth tones, while the hunter’s spoils are in somewhat lighter shades, with dramatic highlights in white and red.  For the animals’ soft fur and feathers, he uses a dark undertone over which he works in short, almost frantic strokes of tan, black, grey and white; these he layers one upon the other to create a sense of depth.  He blocks the view to the left with tall grass painted in longer, almost transparent strokes, cutting off the view to the left and focuses the light on the belly of the hare, the central figure in the composition.  

The painting, dated 1644, is a relatively early work by the artist, and may reflect the influence of a trip to the northern Netherlands two years before.  As compared Frans Snyders, in whose studio he worked, Fyt has a simpler, more intimate approach.  He was an enormously popular artist, with an audiences throughout the Low Countries and beyond.