Highlights of Still Life Painting - Splendour and Transience

Two of the most important Dutch still life painters are expanding their catalogue raisonnés at the Lempertz Fine Art auction on 17th May: Fred G. Meijer was able to add a magnificent flower still life to the oeuvre of Jan Davidsz. de Heem in the form of a painting which has been in family ownership for generations, unnoticed by the public. The other work is a Vanitas still life by Willem Kalf that was only discovered in a house when the building was about to be sold. Lempertz is now making the painting available on the market.

Jan Davidsz. de Heem was one of the most influential Dutch still life painters of the ‘Golden Age’, and his works are among the most important of their kind. His paintings are correspondingly well catalogued and represented in the great museums. Only very rarely are newly discovered paintings added to his oeuvre.

This special case occurred with ‘Still Life with Flowers and Fruit on a Stone Ledge’: The painting had been in family ownership for three generations and has only became accessible to scholars when it was brought to auction at Lempertz. Fred G. Meijer, one of the most renowned experts on 17th century Dutch still lifes, was therefore able to include it in his recently published monograph and catalogue raisonné on Jan Davidsz. de Heem. In his expertise, he calls it an ‘exciting and very important addition to the known oeuvre of Jan Davidsz. de Heem’ and considers it ‘one of the best’ still lifes by the painter, writing further, ‘As in all his paintings, de Heem observed and executed every detail with the greatest possible precision, which makes the painting equally fascinating for lovers of fine art, botanists and entomologists. It effortlessly builds a bridge between the connoisseurs of the seventeenth century and those of the twenty-first century.’ Last year, the work was featured in the exhibition ‘Opulence Distilled. Masterpieces from the oeuvre of Jan Davidsz. de Heem (Utrecht, 1606 - Antwerp, 1684)’ at Snijders & Rockoxhuis in Antwerp.

This museum-quality re-discovery marks a highlight of Dutch still life painting in the auction on 17^th May, it will be offered at an estimate of €1,000,000 to €1,500,000.

Vanitas still lifes emphasise the fact that transience is inherent in all life. Willem Kalf has been rediscovered as one of the masters of this genre. His early work is now complemented by a painting that is perhaps his earliest realisation of a Vanitas theme. Although in his later career he was particularly successful painting arrangements of magnificent objects in lavishly decorated still lifes, here he opts for a subtle, quiet composition.

A candle has been extinguished in the background. The sliced lemon is not only a symbol of moderation, but also illustrates the temporary nature of taste - just as limited as our time on earth. The box of candied fruit likewise alludes to the transient quality of flavour, but at the same time it also points to Willem Kalf's future career. This box will reappear as a motif in the kitchen still lifes of his later creative phase in Paris.

The Rotterdam-born artist achieved great success not only in Paris, but also in Amsterdam. Nevertheless, he must have cultivated the virtue of modesty. Despite his success, it is assumed that Willem Kalf never bought a house. However, it was the sale of a home that brought his large Vanitas still life back into the public eye: The painting was found in the inventory of a property that was about to be sold. Mariana de Hanstein, head of the Old Masters department at Lempertz, recognised what she had stumbled upon. Closer examination confirmed that it was an autograph painting by Willem Kalf. The auction on 17th May will bring the work back into the public eye and make it accessible to art historians once again. The painting is signed ‘WKALF’ and is estimated at between €300,000 and €400,000.

I would be happy to answer any questions and provide print-ready images.

With kind regards,

Jan Bykowski
Press and Public Relations
info@lempertz.com
Tel. 0221 925729 -57