HENDRIK DE FROMANTIOU | Still Life with a Chinese Transitional Blue and White Silver-Mounted Tankard, Grapes and Walnuts on a Plate, with Peaches and a Roemer on a Partially Draped Marble Table, a Red Admiral Butterfly Above
Details
Hendrik de Fromantiou
MAASTRICHT CIRCA 1633 - CIRCA 1694 POTSDAM
STILL LIFE WITH A CHINESE TRANSITIONAL BLUE AND WHITE SILVER-MOUNTED TANKARD, GRAPES AND WALNUTS ON A PLATE, WITH PEACHES AND A ROEMER ON A PARTIALLY DRAPED MARBLE TABLE, A RED ADMIRAL BUTTERFLY ABOVE
bears signature upper left: Willem van Aelst
oil on canvas
65 x 54 cm.; 25 5/8 x 21 1/4 in.
PROVENANCE
With Gebroeders Douwes, Amsterdam, 1939 (as Willem van Aelst);
Private collection, The Netherlands;
From whence sold ('The Property of a Deceased Estate, The Netherlands'), Amsterdam, Christie's, 16 November 2006, lot 80 for £84,000 ($107,000) (as Hendrik de Fromantiou);
With P. De Boer, Amsterdam, 2008 (as Hendrik de Fromantiou), where acquired by the current owner.
EXHIBITED
Leeuwarden, Fries Museum, Van Jan Steen to Jan Sluijters. De Smaak van Douwes, 21 November 1998 - 21 February 1999.
LITERATURE
A.C. Koldewij, F. Lammertse et al., Henri de Fromantiou. Royal Illustions, exh. cat., Maastricht 2015, p. 103, cat. no. 21, reproduced in colour pp. 9 and 103.
CATALOGUE NOTE
Hendrik de Fromantiou was born in the Dutch city of Maastricht in 1633. He trained in Holland and painted there for many years, probably until 1670, when he was appointed court painter to Friedrich Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg, whose son, Friedrich III, he also worked for. De Fromantiou executed a number of royal commissions, which undoubtedly raised his profile and the value of his paintings among contemporary collectors, and enable us today to piece together his peripatetic career: Amsterdam 1672, London 1682, Amsterdam and Gdansk 1684; he died in Berlin in the 1690s.
As the false signature on this painting indicates, Fromantiou's work is very much inspired by and has much in common with the paintings of Willem van Aelst (1627-83) - one of Holland's foremost still life painters of the period. The marble table top, peaches and vine leaves in the present work are most comparable to elements commonly found in van Aelst's works. The relationship between the artists is unclear, but it must be assumed that even if they never met, Fromantiou at least had the opportunity to study van Aelst's work very closely.
MAASTRICHT CIRCA 1633 - CIRCA 1694 POTSDAM
STILL LIFE WITH A CHINESE TRANSITIONAL BLUE AND WHITE SILVER-MOUNTED TANKARD, GRAPES AND WALNUTS ON A PLATE, WITH PEACHES AND A ROEMER ON A PARTIALLY DRAPED MARBLE TABLE, A RED ADMIRAL BUTTERFLY ABOVE
bears signature upper left: Willem van Aelst
oil on canvas
65 x 54 cm.; 25 5/8 x 21 1/4 in.
PROVENANCE
With Gebroeders Douwes, Amsterdam, 1939 (as Willem van Aelst);
Private collection, The Netherlands;
From whence sold ('The Property of a Deceased Estate, The Netherlands'), Amsterdam, Christie's, 16 November 2006, lot 80 for £84,000 ($107,000) (as Hendrik de Fromantiou);
With P. De Boer, Amsterdam, 2008 (as Hendrik de Fromantiou), where acquired by the current owner.
EXHIBITED
Leeuwarden, Fries Museum, Van Jan Steen to Jan Sluijters. De Smaak van Douwes, 21 November 1998 - 21 February 1999.
LITERATURE
A.C. Koldewij, F. Lammertse et al., Henri de Fromantiou. Royal Illustions, exh. cat., Maastricht 2015, p. 103, cat. no. 21, reproduced in colour pp. 9 and 103.
CATALOGUE NOTE
Hendrik de Fromantiou was born in the Dutch city of Maastricht in 1633. He trained in Holland and painted there for many years, probably until 1670, when he was appointed court painter to Friedrich Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg, whose son, Friedrich III, he also worked for. De Fromantiou executed a number of royal commissions, which undoubtedly raised his profile and the value of his paintings among contemporary collectors, and enable us today to piece together his peripatetic career: Amsterdam 1672, London 1682, Amsterdam and Gdansk 1684; he died in Berlin in the 1690s.
As the false signature on this painting indicates, Fromantiou's work is very much inspired by and has much in common with the paintings of Willem van Aelst (1627-83) - one of Holland's foremost still life painters of the period. The marble table top, peaches and vine leaves in the present work are most comparable to elements commonly found in van Aelst's works. The relationship between the artists is unclear, but it must be assumed that even if they never met, Fromantiou at least had the opportunity to study van Aelst's work very closely.