Basket of Fruits

c. 1622

Balthasar van der Ast

Painter, Dutch, 1593/1594 - 1657

A basket holding a pile of several kinds of fruit and two blue and white porcelain plates nearly fills this horizontal still life painting. More fruit is scattered around the smoke-gray ledge on which the basket sits, and the background is purple-tinged gray. The basket sits near the back edge of the ledge, and it has ribbed sides so pieces of round fruit, perhaps apples, are visible inside. Green, red, and purple grapes, green and orange grape leaves, apples, plums, apricots, an orange, and a quince are piled between the two blue-painted plates, which are propped in the basket at an angle to hold the fruit like cupped hands. More fruit, including plums, quince, cherries, and medlars, cover most of the ledge around the basket. The scene is lit from our left so the fruit casts shadows to our right. The artist signed the painting near the lower right corner, “B. vander. ast.”

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An inventory of 1632 confirms the presence of this rare set of pendant paintings by the still-life master Balthasar van der Ast in the collection of Princess Amalia van Solms, wife of Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange. The two works complement each other and reinforce the message that one should be grateful for the abundance and beauty of God’s creation. Both works feature a centrally placed wicker basket overflowing with a semicircular array of still-life objects, both natural and man-made, including fruit, flowers, shells, and exotic Wan-Li porcelain from China (referencing, respectively, the elements of earth, air, water, and fire).

Van der Ast was trained by his brother-in-law, the noted still-life painter Ambrosius Bosschaert (1573–1621). Like his mentor, Van der Ast created symmetrical compositions from meticulous preparatory drawings or watercolor studies made from life of blooming flowers, ripe fruits, and exotic shells—elements the artist was then able to combine, and recombine, in his paintings without needing to have the actual objects in front of him. Departing from his teacher’s penchant for crisp and vivid compositions, Van der Ast softened his contours, used more muted colors, and selectively highlighted the central core of his still lifes. He reinforced the dramatic effect by bringing his forms close to the picture plane and by compressing the space between the various elements. Van der Ast further enlivened the flower arrangement here with a dragonfly and a hermit crab emerging from its shell.

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 50-B

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on panel

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Mrs. Paul Mellon

  • Dimensions

    painted surface: 18.1 x 22.8 cm (7 1/8 x 9 in.)
    overall (with additions): 18.8 x 23.5 cm (7 3/8 x 9 1/4 in.)
    framed: 38.4 x 43.8 x 3.2 cm (15 1/8 x 17 1/4 x 1 1/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1992.51.1

More About this Artwork

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Scholarly Article:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century: Basket of Fruits, c. 1622

This horizontal painting shows a group of eight light-skinned musicians and onlookers gathered closely around a rectangular, carpet-covered table. The front edge of the table runs parallel to the bottom edge of the painting, and seems close to us. Shown from about the waist up, the men and women’s vivid lapis-blue, coral-red, buttercup-yellow, lilac-purple, and moss-green garments fall in crisp folds. Bright reflections on the fabric suggest a satin-like material. Two women wear feathers in their hair and one man’s hat is plumed. One man, wearing crimson red and black, sits with his back to us to our left on the near side of the table. He holds the neck of a bass viol, about the size of a cello, with his left hand, and points to pages of an open music book with the bow in his right hand. The other people cluster on the far side of the table. A man to the left plays a violin; a woman at the center plays a guitar-sized bandora, and a woman to our right plays a lute. The musicians, along with a man who leans over the table from between the two women, look down at the music books. A young man behind the woman at the center holds up a glass of pale liquid with his right hand as he touches his left forefinger to his smiling lips. A man and woman stand close together in the background to our right, in the top right corner of the canvas.

Scholarly Series:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Probably Princess Amalia van Solms [1602-1675], The Hague, by 1632.[1] (sale, Philippus van der Schley, Amsterdam, 16 February 1802 and days following, 1st day, no. 55 [with NGA 1992.51.2]); Levij Pakker.[2] Mrs. Beaumont, England; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 19 March 1906, no. 17 [with NGA 1992.51.2]); (Collings).[3] (Fritz Gerstel Gallery, Berlin); (his sale, Kunstsalon Keller & Reiner, Berlin, 21-22 January 1908, no. 36 [with NGA 1992.51.2]). (Kunsthandel Gebr. Douwes, Amsterdam), c. 1938; sold to Dr. Hans Wetzlar, Amsterdam, by 1952;[4] (his sale, Sotheby Mak van Waay, Amsterdam, 9 June 1977, no. 5 [with NGA 1992.51.2]); (John Mitchell & Son, London); sold November 1977 to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Upperville, Virginia; gift 1992 to NGA.
[1] According to an inventory of the collection of the Prince of Orange and his wife Amalia van Solms made in August 1632.
[2] This sale was kindly brought to the attention of Arthur Wheelock, Jr., by Sam Segal; see his letter of 12 February 2009 in NGA curatorial files. The buyer is noted in the sale contents section of the Getty Provenance Index Databases, J. Paul Getty Trust (sale catalog N-23).
[3] The Mellon collection records (copy in NGA curatorial files) indicate that the seller at the 1906 sale was a "private English collection (? Mrs. Beaumont)." This information was kindly confirmed, and the buyer's name provided, by Lynda McLeod, Librarian, Christie's Archives, London, in her e-mail of 28 March 2013, in NGA curatorial files.
[4] According to information provided to Paul Mellon at the time of his acquisition (see NGA curatorial files). The painting was published in M.J. Friedländer's 1952 catalogue of the Wetzlar Collection, no. 3.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1955

  • Jubileumtentoonstelling, Kunsthandel Gebr. Douwes, Amsterdam, 1955, no. 2.

1960

  • La Nature Morte et son inspiration, Galerie André Weil, Paris, 1960, no. 1.

1998

  • A Collector's Cabinet, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1998, no. 2.

1999

  • From Botany to Bouquets: Flowers in Northern Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1999, no. 3, fig. 36, as Basket of Fruit.

2009

  • Judith Leyster, 1609-1660, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2009, unnumbered brochure.

2015

  • Asia in Amsterdam: The Culture of Luxury in the Golden Age, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, 2015-2016, no. 45a, repro.

Bibliography

1952

  • Friedländer, Max J. Collection Dr. H. Wetzlar. Amsterdam, 1952: 8, no. 3a, repro.

1955

  • Bol, Laurens J. "Een Middelburgse Brueghel-groep." Oud Holland 70 (1955): 146, 153.

  • Kunsthandel Gebr. Douwes. _Jubileumtentoonstelling, 1805-1955 _. Amsterdam, 1955: 1, no. 2.

1960

  • Bol, Laurens J. The Bosschaert Dynasty: Painters of Flowers and Fruit. Translated by A.M. de Bruin-Cousins. Leigh-on-Sea, 1960: 38, 79, no. 72, 102 n. 85.

1990

  • Segal, Sam. Flowers and nature: Netherlandish flower painting of four centuries. Translated by Ruth Koenig. Exh. cat. Nabio Museum of Art, Osaka; Tokyo Station Gallery, Tokyo; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Amstelveen, 1990: 190, 191 n. 3 (where the reference to Bol 1960 gives an incorrect citation to "no. 32" that should be "no. 38").

1995

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1995: 5, 8, color repro. 6.

1997

  • Spicer, Joaneath A., and Lynn Federle Orr. Masters of Light: Dutch Painters in Utrecht during the Golden Age. Exh. cat. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore; National Gallery, London. New Haven, 1997: 362.

1998

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. A Collector's Cabinet. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1998: 65, no. 2.

1999

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. From Botany to Bouquets: Flowers in Northern Art. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1999: 46-47, 83; no. 3, fig. 36.

2007

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr., and Michael Swicklik. "Behind the Veil: Restoration of a Dutch Marine Painting Offers a New Look at Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art and History." National Gallery of Art Bulletin no. 37 (Fall 2007): 4, 5, fig .5.

2008

  • Paul, Tanya. "'Beschildert met een Glans': Willem van Aelst and artistic self-consciousness in seventeenth-century Dutch still life painting." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 2008: 128, fig. 48.

2011

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr., and Daniëlle H.A.C. Lokin. Human Connections in the Age of Vermeer. Exh. cat. Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai; Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo. London, 2011: 20, fig. 3.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr., and Daniëlle H.A.C. Lokin. Communication: Visualizing the Human Connection in the Age of Vermeer. Japanese ed. Exh. cat. Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai; Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, 2011: 29, fig. 2.

2012

  • Paul, Tanya, et al. Elegance and Refinement: The still-life paintings of Willem van Aelst. Exh. cat. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 2012: 39, fig. 3.

Inscriptions

lower right: .B.vander.ast...

Wikidata ID

Q19862868

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