Lot 1205. Jacob van Hulsdonck (1582 Antwerpen – 1647), Still life with fruit basket, circa 1620. Oil on panel, 55 x 77 cm. Signed on edge of table. Estimate 300.000-500.000 €. Courtesy Hampel

Provenance: Private collection, France. 
Private collection, Switzerland. 

Exhibitions: "Art Rules" organized by Art Life Project, Tallinn Town Hall, Estonia, 5 June - 5 October 2015.

Note: Van Hulsdonck was particularly fond of grapes, plums, lemons, cherries, apricots and occasionally pomegranates in ever-changing compositions. His mastery of representing different surface textures of the fruits and their colors was rarely matched and surpassed by other artists. In one of his publications, the art historian Laurens Bol gives the painter Ambrosius Bosschaert d. J. (1573 - 1621) was named "Master of the Flies" because he almost always played flies on his still life. Van Hulsdonck could also be given this nickname, since his still life is also often depicted as a fly. Other frequently depicted guests on his still life are cockchafer or different butterfly species. In addition, dew drops can be found on almost all his pictures,
The still lifes of the 17th century always contain symbols that convey messages. Van Hulsdonck's iconography does not tell of the serene side of life. The presence of insects, the overripe fruit and the wormholes in the leaves tell of the transience of life. The artist brings with it a vanitas motif and recalls the inevitable changes around us. 
Today, his works can be found in the most important museums in the world: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, or the Museum Bredius, The Hague. † 

We thank Fred G. Meijer, RKD. 

Catalogue II - Tableaux de Maîtres Anciens chez Hampel Fine Art Auctions, Munich, Allemagne, le 12 Avril 2018 à 14h00