JOHANNES LEEMANS | TROMPE-L’ŒIL STILL LIFE WITH A BIRD CAGE AND HUNTING EQUIPMENT

Private collection, Holland, whence acquired in 1972.

's-Hertogenbosch, Het Noordbrabants Museum, Schijn bedriegt: Trompe-l'oeil en de kunst van illusie, 12 October 2013 – 26 January 2014.

The SØR Rusche Collection has been exhibited extensively over the last two decades. Please click here for further information.

H.-J. Raupp (ed.), Niederländische Malerei des. 17. Jahrhunderts der SØR Rusche-Sammlung, vol. 5, Stilleben und Tierstücke, Münster/Hamburg/London 2004, pp. 158–61, cat. no. 32, reproduced in colour;

P. Huys-Janssen and S. ten Brink, Schijn bedriegt: Trompe-l'oeil en de kunst van illusie, exh. cat., Eindhoven 2013, p. 40, reproduced in colour.

Johannes Leemans is believed to have spent his entire life in The Hague, where he was also active as a wine merchant. Johannes and his brother Anthonius specialised in painting trompe l'œil hunting still lifes usually featuring, as here, a game bag, a horn, whistles on ribbons and a caged bird displayed in asymmetrical composition against a plain background. Leemans' paintings can be dated to the period between 1664 and 1686, and whilst his œuvre shows few signs of change over the years, his compositions always vary slightly, and inform us in great detail on hunting gear in the 17th century.