H.V. Oorschot

The actual painting is softer in tone than the catalogue illustration suggests. The canvas has been laid down on panel. A vertical crease is visible to the upper left. No major damages are apparent. The paint surface is a little thin in the background and in the darker areas, and is under a dirty varnish layer. Some small discoloured retouchings are visible in the background, along the lower and upper edges, and in the ledge. Inspection under UV light reveals more extensive retouchings in the background, and a few tiny ones in the grapes and peaches, and minor strengthening in some of the leafs. Offered in a plain wood frame with a gilt fillet in good condition. (MW)
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Very little is known about the artist of this fruit still life. Greindl mentions a still life in the style of Jan Davidsz. de Heem, quite similarly signed and dated F.H.V. oorschot 1651, once recorded with Leegenhoek.¹  A Frans van Oorschot is recorded being a dealer in Antwerp in 1641, when he was admitted to the local Guild. Whether this and our artist is one and the same person is not certain.

1. See E. Greindl, Les peintres flamands de nature morte au XVIIe siècle, Sterrebeek 1983, p. 371, reproduced p. 271, no 164.