Artwork
Still life of flowers and fruits on a marble ledge
Still life of flowers and fruits on a marble ledge is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Paul Theodor van Brussel. It dates from 1794 and is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting represents a lush arrangement of flowers and fruits upon a marble ledge. The composition specifically depicts a bouquet featuring a tulip, accompanied by grapes, a peach, wheat, and maize. As a floral still life, the work combines cultivated blooms with harvested produce, presenting a gathered abundance of natural elements on a hard, stone surface.
Technique & Style
The arrangement rests upon a marble ledge, providing a structured, classical backdrop that contrasts with the organic forms of the flora and harvested produce.
Paul Theodor van Brussel executed this 1794 floral still life using oil paint on a panel support. The composition arranges a bouquet alongside fruit, incorporating tulips, grapes, and peaches, together with ears of wheat and maize. Measuring 53.9 cm in height by 40.3 cm in width, the work is characteristic of the late eighteenth-century floral painting genre.
The arrangement rests upon a marble ledge, providing a structured, classical backdrop that contrasts with the organic forms of the flora and harvested produce.
History & Provenance
Still life of flowers and fruits on a marble ledge was created by Paul Theodor van Brussel in 1794, executed in oil. Its documented ownership chain runs from Emilie Mélanie Mathilde Rapp to Adrian John Hope, then to William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, and Arthur Keating, before the work reached the Art Institute of Chicago, where it is now held. It is also recorded in connection with the Anderson Galleries.
Context
The 1794 oil painting by Paul Theodor van Brussel portrays a bouquet of tulips, grapes, peaches, wheat, and maize arranged on a marble ledge, exemplifying the Dutch floral still-life tradition of the late eighteenth century. Its composition reflects the continued interest in meticulously rendered botanical subjects within the broader European still-life movement. The piece entered the Art Institute of Chicago after passing through the collections of Emilie Mélanie Mathilde Rapp, Adrian John Hope, William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, and Arthur Keating.
Overview
Paul Theodor van Brussel's Still life of flowers and fruits on a marble ledge, painted in oil in 1794, exemplifies the artist's skill in this genre. This work, now held by the Art Institute of Chicago, showcases the Dutch painter's dedication to depicting natural abundance. Van Brussel was highly regarded in his time for his specialized focus on floral and fruit arrangements, a subject he pursued after an earlier career.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Paul Theodor van Brussel (1754–1795) was a Dutch flower painter. He was born at Zuid-Polsbroek, near Schoonhoven, in 1754. He was a scholar of Jean Augustin and of Hendrik Meyer of Haarlem. He was first employed in the…
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