Willem van Aelst (1627 Utrecht / Delft - 1683 Amsterdam), Still life of fruit. Oil on canvas. Relined. 47 x 38 cm. Estimate: € 70,000 to 100,000. Photo Hampel.

Depiction of green and slightly red grapes, one peach and a slightly open walnut laid on a marble top, with a vine climbing up behind it against a black background. Apart from its aesthetic effect, the composition can thus be interpreted as symbols of vanitas as what customary at the time: the slightly opened nutshell alongwith the insects, butterfly and fly on the peach skin cause the fruit to decay. 

Provenance: Collection of Mr . & Mrs L. Salavin, Paris . Palais Galleria, sale December 1973 no 1 (illustrated). 

Literature: (eds.) See Erika Gemar-Költzsch, Dutch still life painter in the 17th century, Klaus Ertz and Christa Nitze Ertz, Lingen 1995, vol. 2, pp. 11-29. T. Paul et al, Elegance and refinement, the still-life paintings of Willem van Aelst, exhibition catalog, Houston and Washington in 2012, p. 93. cat. no I (illustrated).

Accompanied by an expert's report by Laurens Bol (Dordrecht Museum, 1983). 

Hampel. Paintings XVI - XVIII century. Thursday, September 22, 2016