Lot 44. Otto Marseus van Schrieck (Nijmegen 1619/20 (?) - 1678 Amsterdam), Still life of wild flowers, including cyclamen, crocus, delphinium, with a snake and butterflies, signed and dated lower right: O. / Marseús. D. / Schrieck / 10/ 27/ aN 70, oil on canvas, 27 3/4  by 21 1/2  in.; 70.5 by 54.6 cm. Estimate 80,000 — 120,000 USD. Lot sold 112,500 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

Provenance: A. Nottebahm (according to a label formerly on the reverse of the stretcher);
Jack and Belle Linsky, New York, by 1974;
By whom sold, New York, Sotheby's, 2 June 1989, lot 25;
With Kunsthandel K & V. Waterman, Amsterdam, by 1989;
By whom sold, Paris, Ader Tajan, 29 March 1994, lot 17;
There acquired by a private collection;
By whose estate sold, New York, Sotheby's, 22 May 1997, lot 84;
There acquired by the present collector. 

Literature: I. Bergström, "Marseus, Peintre de Fleurs, Papillions, et Serpents," in L'Oeil, December 1974, p. 27, reproduced fig. 6;
P. Mitchell, European Flower Painters, London 1973, pp. 232, 270, reproduced p. 232, fig. 330;
G.J.M. Weber, "Stilles Leben am Erdboden," in Kunst und Antiquitäten, 1993, no. 1-2, p. 24;
S. Steensma, Otto Marseus van Schrieck: Leben und Werk, Hildesheim 1999, pp. 38, 132, 159, cat. no. B1.105, reproduced p. 343, fig. 131 (as dated 1678);
G. Bocchi and U. Bocchi, Pittori di Natura Morta a Roma: Artisti Stranieri 1630-1750, Viadana 2005, p. 27, reproduced p. 29, fig. OM.3. 

Note: Otto Marseus van Schrieck was the leading Dutch innovator of the forest floor, or sottobosco still life. In this work, he has focused meticulous attention on a dramatically spot-lit grouping of naturalia, each element of which glistens vividly against the dark background landscape. This is among the most accomplished works by the artist to appear at auction in some time, with every detail rendered with exacting care. Furthermore, the painting is proudly signed and dated with the exact day on which the picture was completed: 27 October 1670. 

Working at a time of increased interest in the natural sciences, van Schrieck is highly renowned for works such as this, especially his moonlit nocturnal scenes that depict flora, moss and denizens of the forest.  His nickname Snuffelaer, or "ferreter", undoubtedly reflects his excursions into the forest underbrush to examine different specimens—sometimes even bringing them back to his vivarium, where they were further cultivated and studied.  Much admired during his lifetime, his works were imitated by number of artists, including no less distinguished a talent than Rachel Ruysch.

Between 1648 and 1657, van Schrieck left Amsterdam to embark on several extended sojourns to England, France, and—most notably—Italy.  During his time in Florence, he worked for the Grand Duke Ferdinand II de' Medici of Tuscany, for his works complemented the family’s collection of flora and fauna in both painted and physical form.  A number of Marseus van Schrieck’s still-life paintings can be found in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence today.

The present work can be compared to van Schrieck's Still life with snakes and butterflies in the woods in the Stockholm Nationalmuseum (inv. no. 504).1, as well as a similarly refined and vertical composition sold New York, Sotheby's, 22 April 2015, lot 63.

1. oil on canvas, 62 by 50 cm., See Steensma, under Literature, p. 132, cat. no. B1.45, reproduced p. 201, fig. 67.