Lot 2036 Dα

This work depicts various flowers arranged horizontally across a wooden table top filling the entire length of the image. It shows a carnation, a tulip, columbine, an iris, various roses, two chrysanthemums, clematis and a snake's head fritillary. The flowers and leaves are arranged as if by chance, but nevertheless form a generous, harmoniously balanced composition, which is further enriched by three small insects: A caterpillar on the yellow and red striped tulip, a butterfly above and a fly below the chrysanthemum flower in the front.
It would have been almost surprising if Ambrosius Bosschaert the Younger had not become a still life painter. He was the son of Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, the leading flower painter of the northern Netherlands at the time, and the nephew of Balthasar van der Ast, another important pioneer of the still life genre. His two brothers Johannes and Abraham also followed in his father's footsteps, and at the wedding of Ambrosius the Younger in Utrecht in 1634 we find Roelant Savery, another important protagonist of early Dutch still life painting, as best man.
Although Ambrosius Bosschaert the Younger initially signed his works with the monogram AB, in 1633 he began writing out his signature in full. It is this latter version that appears on the present work, which can be dated to 1635/37. A similar composition with partially identical flowers but in a rectangular format can be seen in a work in the Dr. A. Wieg Gallery in Amsterdam, while the Hamburger Kunsthalle houses a work by the artist depicting just three flowers and three cherries on a stone slab.
Although initially inspired by the works of his father, Ambrosius the Younger developed his own thoroughly independent style. Compared to the works of Ambrosius the Elder his paintings are characterized, among other things, by lighter backgrounds, a warmer colour palette dominated by red, pink and yellow tones, and a lower viewpoint.