(Middelburg 1593/94–1657 Delft)
A wicker basket with flowers and shells on a stone-ledge,signed and dated lower right: B. van der Ast fe 162.,oil on panel, 37 x 58 cm, framed

Provenance:
Collection Gairac, Paris;
Private collection, Paris, since the 1980s

Literature:
I. Bergström, in: Tableau, January 1984, vol. 6, no. 3, p. 72, no. 8

We are grateful to Fred Meijer for confirming the attribution. The painting is recorded in the RKD database under no. 120545 (with incorrect measurements).

The present picture, brimming with carefully composed and naturalistically depicted flora and fauna is a fine example of the oeuvre of the celebrated still-life painter Balthasar van der Ast. Its jewel-like like textures seen in the lizard’s scales, crustacean forms and the moisture drops on the leaves and petals are a testament to van der Ast’s vivid capturing of the natural world. Typical characteristics of Balthasar van der Ast’s works are a pronounced realism, a careful balancing of the forms and colours in his compositions, and a skilfull handling of chiaroscuro, as may be seen in the shadows articulating the depth of the floral arrangement and falling on the shells beneath. Van der Ast animates his still life compositions, as here, by the inclusion of small animals and insects that seemingly move through the pictorial space: butterflies, spiders and moths that alight upon or delicately registered flowers or crawl between the shelf set with shells that makes up the picture plane.

These elements are both evidence of van de Ast’s practice of studying from life, along with his knowledge of the pre-eminent botanical publications, then so fashionable in the Dutch Republic. Chief among these was probably the publication in 1571 of the Middleburg botanist (and later physician to James I of Great Britain) Mattias de l’Obel’s Stirpium adversaria nova. Middleburg, where van der Ast trained with his brother-in-law Ambrosius Bosschaert, was set between trade routes to the East Indies and the Americas, and its botanical gardens were the most comprehensive in Holland, as illustrated by van der Ast’s naturalistic and graphic renditions of the flora in the present panel.

Balthasar van der Ast remains one of the most celebrated Dutch still life painters of the seventeenth century. Although van der Ast was significantly influenced by his brother-in-law’s work, he soon developed his own particular ‘modern’ style of painting. The painter built his compositions gradually, displaying each individual item in great detail and usually arranging them around a triangular composition. Indeed, Balthasar van der Ast always begins his works from preliminary studies. The same flowers, similar animals and identical shells often appear in his works. The artist especially cherished shells as a subject: indeed, these characterise and at times are the protagonists of many of his works. Balthasar van der Ast was a trailblazer in the representation of the shell as a subject, reflecting the passionate interest for these exotic objects among collectors, and in some cases he portrayed very rare and expensive shells (see L.J. Bol, The Bosschaert dynasty: painters of flowers and fruit, Leigh-on-Sea 1960, pp. 36-40).