Open IIIF manifest What is IIIF IIIF viewers

Flower piece (recto)

Maker

Pieter Gerardus van Os (artist)
1776-1839

Title

Date of Production

1700 - 1899

Medium

graphite, grey and black wash, with brown ink framing lines (recto), graphite? (verso, now hidden under Japanese tissue), on laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 45.3 cm
Width: 32.1 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.2925

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Flower painting became increasingly ambitious in the eighteenth century, with the complexity of the compositions rivalling that of large-scale figure painting. Despite their meticulous detail, drawings such as this were not the result of direct observation. The drooping blooms, the garden setting and the bird's nest are conventions that reappear with only minor modifications in countless works of the time. Later critics turned against this unnatural extravagance. For John Ruskin (1819-1900) the artificiality of works of this kind was typified by the drops of water which are visible on the leaves.

Provenance

Sotheby's (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, n.d.; Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Second Nature, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 14/06/2000-03/09/2000

Dutch drawings from the Witt Collection: Part 2: Other than landscape, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1976-77 (Nov.-Feb.)

Literature

Dutch drawings from the Witt Collection: Part 2: Other than landscape, Courtauld Gallery, London, November 1976 - Febr
cat. no. 52

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: within the drawing, lower right n stone, grey ink, signed by the artist: "P Van Os.". Verso: upper right corner, graphite: "No 1"; upper right, graphite, crossed out: "31".

Collector's mark: Verso: lower left corner, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

Information on this object may be incomplete and will be updated as research progresses. We are particularly committed to addressing any discriminatory or offensive language and ideas that might be present in our records. To help improve this record, and to enquire about images of The Courtauld Gallery Collection, please email gallery.collectionsonline@courtauld.ac.uk. Find out more about using and licensing our images.

____________________________

Buy a print from our collection