Still Life: Flowers and Fruit

Jan van Os 1744 - 1808

Summary

Van Os was one of van Huysum's greatest followers and his equal in rendering minute detail. The yellow cabbage rose, at the centre of the composition, is a rare flower, but it often appears in van Huysum's paintings, so van Os may have copied it. At the top of the arrangement are two half-opened tulips. From the late 1500s, tulips were imported into the Netherlands from Turkey and Asia, but were soon grown and sold locally. For a brief but frenzied period in the 1600s, tulip bulbs fetched extremely high prices, sometimes hundreds of guilders for a single bulb, sparking ‘tulipmania'. Tulips with violet stripes on white and red stripes on yellow were considered among the most beautiful and valuable varieties. Tulip prices plummeted in 1637 and investors faced financial ruin. Tulips never again reached inflated prices but remained much admired. Among the other flowers in this picture are delphinium, red coxcomb, primula, hollyhock, rose and iris. There are also grapes, melon, peach, bramble, hazelnut, raspberry, chicory and pomegranate, as well as bird's eggs in a nest, moths and a dragonfly. The fruit spills over the ledge in the foreground, inviting us to touch, smell and taste it.

Display Label

Still life: Flowers and Fruit late 1700s Jan van Os 1744-1808 Oil on panel Van Os was one of van Huysum’s greatest followers and his equal in rendering minute detail. The yellow cabbage rose, at the centre of the composition, is a rare flower, but it often appears in van Huysum’s paintings so van Os may have copied it. At the top of the arrangement are two half-opened tulips. From the late 1500s, tulips were imported into the Netherlands from Turkey and Asia, but were soon grown and sold locally. For a brief but frenzied period in the 1600s, tulip bulbs fetched extremely high prices, sometimes hundreds of guilders for a single bulb, sparking ‘tulipmania’. Tulips with violet stripes on white and red stripes on yellow were considered among the most beautiful and valuable varieties. Tulip prices plummeted in 1637 and investors faced financial ruin. Tulips never again reached inflated prices but remained much admired. Assheton Bennett bequest 1979.485