Juan de Arellano

Private collection, France;
Anonymous sale, Paris, Tajan, 20 June 2007, lot 3 for €83,859. 

The canvas has had a relining removed. The paint surface has thinned somewhat. A retouching measuring approximately 3 by 3 cm can be seen at the lower centre of the vase. A retouching measuring 2 by 6 cm is noticeable in the white flower at centre left. Further retouchings can be seen in the stalks and leaves in the lower half of the composition. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals a thick varnish and confirms the above retouchings, as well as revealing very few small scattered retouchings in the stems and leaves at the upper centre and upper right. The work is offered in a gilt molded frame in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

With this intimate work Arellano has exercised unusual restraint with both his composition and variety of flowers chosen, so that it differs markedly to the large, opulent, multi-coloured works for which he is best known. The breadth with which it is painted points to a date of execution in the 1660s or 1670s when Arellano's style was influenced to a great degree by his studying of the work of the Italians Mario Nuzzi and Marguerita Caffi. In terms of its scale and particular arrangement of the individual flowers, it closely resembles a signed work that sold in Madrid, Sotheby's Edmund Peel, 21 May 1991, lot 7, for 31,360,000 pts.

Arellano only began painting flowers still lifes in the late 1640s when well into his thirties, leaving a behind a career as a mediocre figure painter. At first he painted wreaths of flowers decorating sculpted cartouches, of a type inspired by northern artists, such as Daniel Seghers, that was immensely popular in Spain. It is however with his later paintings, such as the present work, that his legacy lived on, principally through his students Bartolomé Perez and his son José de Arellano.

We are grateful to Prof. Enrique Valdivieso for pointing out that this painting originally formed a pair with a work in a private collection that was exhibited in Riom, Museo Mandet in 1970 (for which see Collections privées d'Auvergne, exhibition catalogue, Riom, Musée Mandet, 1970, no. 26, reproduced).