Nicolaes van Veerendael

With P. de Boer, Amsterdam, 1957-1958;
From whom acquired by the father of the consignor to the Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 30 May 2003, lot 4;
Where acquired by the present owners.

Amsterdam, P. de Boer, Winter Exhibition, 1957-1958;
Greenwich, Connecticut, Bruce Museum of Arts and Science, Old Master Paintings from the Hascoe Collection, 2 April - 29 May 2005, no. 17.

P. Sutton, Old Master Paintings from the Hascoe Collection (exh. cat. Bruce Museum), Greenwich 2005, p. 42, no. 17, reproduced.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has an old lining but the surface may have been cleaned and restored more recently. Under ultraviolet light only a few spots of retouch are visible in the golden flowers in the center and in the stalk of the bluebells in the upper right. There may be other retouches beneath an older varnish and there are some losses in the lower portion of the picture beneath the flower arrangement which are visible to the naked eye. This picture will benefit from cleaning, despite the fact that a few un-identified restorations will be removed.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This elegant and symmetrical festoon has been dated to the 1670s, when van Veerendael's style had matured and was beginning to reflect the influence of the lush and opulent floral compositions of Jan Davidsz. de Heem.¹  This swag is balanced by paired tulips and roses and punctuated with carnations, narcissi and other flowers.  Set off by the dark monochrome gray tone of the stone niche, the rich tones of the red, orange, pink and white flowers almost seem to spring from the canvas.  A more lavish, but roughly contemporary garland piece by van Veerendael is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (inv. no. P.16-1914).

At the time of its sale in 2003, Fred Meijer of the RKD, The Hague, confirmed the attribution of this painting on the basis of transparencies.

1. See Literature