Jan van Huysum

Dutch, 1682 - 1749

Jan van Huysum was born in Amsterdam on April 15, 1682. His father, Justus van Huysum the Elder (1659–1716), was also an artist, as were Jan’s three brothers, Justus the Younger (1685–1707), Jacob (1688–1740), and Michiel (1703–1777). Justus the Elder was a prolific painter of large flower pieces—often as part of complete decorative schemes that he designed for patrons’ houses—and also seems to have been active as an art dealer, so the early training that Jan received from his father was in the context of a flourishing art business.

Jan married Elisabeth Takens (d. by 1651) in 1704, at which time he was living on the Utrechtsestraat in Amsterdam. Two years later the couple moved to a home on the Leidsegracht that Elisabeth had inherited from relatives. The couple had twelve children, only three of whom survived their parents.

Van Huysum rapidly established a reputation as the leading still-life painter of his time. Auction records indicate that his paintings sold for as much as 1,450 guilders during his lifetime, and his noble patrons included Prince William of Hesse, the duc d’Orleans, the kings of Poland and Prussia, the elector of Saxony, and Sir Robert Walpole, later Earl of Orford. Van Huysum was, highly praised by contemporary authors; Houbraken described him as “the phoenix of flower-painters.” At the time of his death he was a very wealthy man.

Van Huysum is reputed to have been fiercely secretive about his techniques, forbidding anyone, including his own brothers, to enter his studio for fear that they would learn how he purified and applied his colors. He had few pupils, one of whom, Margareta Haverman (1690/1700–after 1723), he apparently took on only in response to great pressure from his uncle. It is widely reported that Haverman’s work soon inspired such jealousy in her teacher that she had to leave his studio.

Unlike most Dutch still-life painters, Van Huysum produced a large number of drawings, mostly compositional studies for entire flower paintings but also some detailed depictions of individual blooms. His keenness for studying flowers from life led him to spend a portion of each summer in Haarlem, then as now a horticultural center. He probably also executed at least some elements of his easel paintings from life, rather than from drawings. This method of working may explain why some of his paintings bear two different dates.

Van Huysum’s reluctance to teach anyone else his techniques did not prevent the perpetuation of his popular style of painting by numerous followers and imitators, both during and after his lifetime. Some of the most notable were Jan van Os (1744–1808), his son Georgius Jacobus Johannes van Os (1782–1861), the brothers Gerard (1746–1822) and Flaxman, John, and Wybrand Hendriks (1744–1831). In addition to still lifes, Van Huysum painted a number of Italianate landscapes.

Explore Selected Works

A tall arrangement of blue irises, cream-white carnations, violets, peonies, tulips, and other azure-blue, white, and scarlet-red flowers in a terracotta urn carved with child-like putti takes up most of the space of this vertical still life painting. The arrangement is warmly lit from the upper left and sits near a corner of a stone ledge veined in caramel brown and golden yellow. The ledge extends off the right edge of the painting. Most of the flowers face us but some face away or droop down. Leggy tulips in full bloom rise high in the bouquet. A cluster of white peonies veined lightly with pale pink are gathered near a crimson-edged white carnation and vivid blue forget-me-nots near the center, above the urn. The stems and blossoms of other flowers swirl and twist through the arrangement. A small brown and orange butterfly with black spots perches with wings slightly open on a scarlet-red poppy at the top center. Another butterfly sits with wings spread near the front corner of the ledge. Black circles surrounded by rings that blend from sapphire blue to butter yellow look like eyes at the tips of each of the four wings. A third butterfly with white wings is partly visible behind the petals of a ruby-red peony in the lower right. A small bird’s nest woven with twigs and green moss sits to our right of the urn, and is filled with four blue eggs. The background behind the arrangement is streaked with sable brown and mustard yellow. The signature of the artist is written in cursive on the face of the stone ledge near the corner, “Jan Van Huysum fecit.”
Jan van Huysum, Flowers in an Urn, c. 1720/1722, oil on panel, Adolph Caspar Miller Fund, 1977.7.1

Flowers in an Urn

Jan van Huysum · c. 1720/1722 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1977.7.1

Jan van Huysum, Bouquet of Spring Flowers in a Terracotta Vase, 1720s, oiled charcoal and watercolor on laid paper, Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund, The Ahmanson Foundation Fund, Linda H. Kaufman Fund, and Mr. and Mrs. Louis Glickfield Fund, 2011.74.1

Bouquet of Spring Flowers in a Terracotta Vase

Jan van Huysum · 1720s · oiled charcoal and watercolor on laid paper ·  Accession ID  2011.74.1

Against a dark background, an abundant, colorful arrangement of flowers and fruit fills this vertical still life painting. Set on a stone ledge, a barely visible terracotta vase contains the overflowing bouquet of flowers and greenery. Carnations, tulips, peonies, roses, tuberoses, hops, and other flowers create swirling, circular patterns that sweep across the panel. A delicate stalk of wheat and a few long, thin stems create bright, sinuous lines that span the composition. Peaches and green and purple grapes are piled on the ledge to our right, and an orange butterfly perches below. Barely noticeable, small, pale blue, yellow, white, and orange butterflies hover around the arrangement, while small insects and flies crawl on a few of the flowers and pieces of fruit. Drops of water reflect the light on some of the greenery, fruit, and tulip petals. The flowers are strongly lit across the face of the arrangement, which creates deep shadows to the sides and back.
Jan van Huysum, Still Life with Flowers and Fruit, c. 1715, oil on panel, Patrons' Permanent Fund and Gift of Philip and Lizanne Cunningham, 1996.80.1

Still Life with Flowers and Fruit

Jan van Huysum · c. 1715 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1996.80.1

Bibliography

1751

  • Gool, Johan van. De Nieuwe Schouburg der Nederlantsche Kunstschilders en Schilderessen. 2 vols. The Hague, 1751: 2:13–33.

1753

  • Houbraken, Arnold. De Groote Schouburgh der Nederlantsche Konstschilders en Schilderessen. 3 vols. in 1. The Hague, 1753 (Reprint: Amsterdam, 1976): 3:387.

1829

  • Smith, John. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters. 9 vols. London, 1829-1842: 6(1835):465-491, 9(1842):786-789.

1954

  • Grant, Maurice Harold. Jan Van Huysum, 1682-1749. Leigh-on-Sea, 1954.

1956

  • Bergström, Ingvar. Dutch Still-Life Painting in the Seventeenth Century. Translated by Christina Hedström and Gerald Taylor. London, 1956: 226-228.

1964

  • White, Christopher. The Flower Drawings of Jan van Huysum. Leigh-on-Sea, 1964.

1991

  • MacLaren, Neil. The Dutch School, 1600-1900. Revised and expanded by Christopher Brown. 2 vols. National Gallery Catalogues. London, 1991: 1:207-208.

1995

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1995: 142.

2003

  • Willigen, Adriaan van der, and Fred G. Meijer. A dictionary of Dutch and Flemish still-life painters working in oils, 1525-1725. Leiden, 2003: 115-116.

2007

  • Ellens, Mariël, and Sam Segal. "Jan van Huysum: His Life and Family." In The Temptations of Flora: Jan van Huysum, 1682-1749. Edited by Sam Segal. Translated by Beverly Jackson. Exh. cat. Museum Het Prinsenhof, Delft; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Zwolle, 2007: 15-26.