Jacob van Hulsdonck

Vente anonyme, Londres, Christie's, 26 novembre 1971, lot n°22 ;
Galerie J.O. Leegenhoek, Paris, 1971 ;
Acquis de cette dernière par Monsieur Gérard Grandchamp des Raux (père de l'actuel propriétaire)

E. Greindl, Les peintres flamands de natures mortes au XVIIe siècle, Paris, 1983, p. 255 et 364, n°32

On the naked eye: The painting is painted on two oak planks assembled in the centre. The painting is not perfectly flat and it is a little bit twisty. The back is covered with an old thick coat, some of it is uplifted. The two planks were jointed with a piece of dark painted coated fabric. The painting is covered with clear and regular old varnish. We can notice some very small scratches close to the frame borders. A slight "disjunction" of the planks is visible on the right and on the left of the background. Under UV light: There is a regular varnish. There are small restorations on the fruits: on the upper right centre peaches, on the light plumbs underneath, on the small plumbs on the left and some very light restorations spots on the ledge. The painting is in an exceptional condition.
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Jacob van Hulsdonck, né à Anvers en 1582, entreprit une première formation de peintre à Middelbourg. Mais c’est dans sa ville natale, qui connaît alors un plein essor à l’aube du XVIIe siècle, qu’il exerça la majeure partie de son art. Ses compositions marquèrent son temps. A l’instar de quelques grands maîtres flamands et hollandais qui lui sont contemporains, il s’illustra dans la peinture de natures mortes et les bouquets de fleurs. Il traduit ainsi, comme le dira si bien Charles Sterling en 1992, « une émotion poétique devant la beauté qu'il a entrevue dans ces objets et leur assemblage. » . Au cours de sa carrière, le maître semble avoir plus ou moins adopté le même style de mise en page. Il se démarque ainsi de certains de ses contemporains, qui cherchaient à rallier le mouvement baroque dans de nouvelles compositions scénographiques. Il exerça durant la même période que Louyse Moillon et l’on peut penser que leurs arts se nourrirent mutuellement. Enfin et non des moindres, il exerça une influence durable sur certains artistes du XVIIe siècle qui lui succédèrent, tels que Jacques Linard et Pierre Dupuis.

Dans notre tableau, Jacob van Hulsdonck reprend le parti adopté par ses prédécesseurs flamands et français, en adoptant une mise en place somme toute classique. Le peintre choisit de dépeindre divers fruits dans une corbeille posée sur une table en bois, le tout sur un fond noir.
Il démontre un intérêt manifeste pour la diversité, la richesse et la beauté de la nature. Figues, grappes de raisin, cerises, prunes et pêches se côtoient, donnant vie à une composition très équilibrée et frappante de réalisme. Ainsi remarque-t-on tantôt quelques cerises plus mûres que d’autres, à certains moments quelques prunes davantage gâtées que leurs voisines…
Malgré cette profusion de fruits, le peintre fait preuve d’un véritable souci d’allégement de la composition, via l’adjonction de divers branchages feuillus, ce qui confère un certain sentiment de légèreté à l’ensemble. Les couleurs sont séduisantes et les fruits sont aussi éclatants qu’appétissants. Il ne fait nul doute que l’artiste montre ici une très haute maîtrise dans son art, à travers une œuvre pleine de vie.

Jacob van Hulsdonck, was born in Antwerp in 1582 and began his early training as a painter in Middelburg. However he worked mostly in his hometown, which was experiencing a flourishing economy at the turn of the 17th century. His compositions had an impact in his time. Following the great Dutch and Flemish masters who were his contemporaries, he painted still lifes and flower bouquets. Thus transpiring as Charles Sterling explained in 1992, "a poetic emotion in front of beauty that he intervened between these objects and their arrangement". During his career, the master seemed to have more or less adopted the same layout style. He stood out from some of his contemporaries, who sought to rally around the Baroque movement with new scenic compositions. He worked during the same time period as Louyse Moillon and it is likely that their art fed each other. Furthermore, he made a lasting influence on some artists from the 17th century who succeeded after him such as Jacques Linard and Pierre Dupuis.

In our painting, Jacob van Hulsdonck resumed the classical staging concept adopted by his Flemish and French predecessors. The painter chose to depict various fruits in a basket placed on a wooden table against a black background.

One can notice a great interest towards diversity, richness and beauty of nature. Figs, grape clusters, cherries, plums and peaches come together and give life to a very balanced composition and astound with realism. One may remark that some cherries are more ripe than others and from certain angles some plums are more spoiled than their counterparts. Despite this abundance of fruit, the painter shows a genuine concern for enlightening the composition via the addition of various leafy branches thus giving an ethereal dimension to the ensemble. The colors are attractive and the fruits are vivid as well as appetizing. Without a doubt the artist demonstrates here a very strong handling in his art through a work full of life.