1211 - Floris van Schooten

Floris van Schooten Still life with strawberries, cherries and an overturned tazza Oil on panel (parquetted). 29 x 45 cm. Certificate Dr. Walther Bernt, Munich, 5.1.1978. Provenance A. Frank, Copenhagen, 5.12.1953, lot 2 (as P. Claesz). - H. Ferlov, Copenhagen, 24.11.1954, lot 379, (as Dutch School 17th century). - Coll. Knud Christensen, Copenhagen. - Private collection, Germany. Literature P. Gammelbo: Dutch Still-life Painting: From the 16th to the 18th Centuries in Danish Collections, Copenhagen 1960, (as Fray Juan Sanchez Cotan, attributed), no. 39, p. 40 ill. - P. Gammelbo: Floris Gerritz van Schooten. in: Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek XVII (1966): p. 105–42, no. 80, p. 133. - N. R. A. Vroom: A modest message as intimated by the painters of the "Monochrome banketje", Schiedam 1980, no. 600. An overturned silver tazza, a plate of baked goods, a bowl of strawberries, and glistening ripe redcurrants and cherries make up the main elements of this still life by Floris van Schooten. The artist is best known for his market and kitchen scenes, as well as for his compositions from the 1640s: bowls of fruit, plates of cheese, tarts or bread are arranged on a table which – as shown here – is covered with a dark green, and occasionally a white, cloth. Against a neutral background, the balanced composition and a striking yet restrained colour scheme create a harmonious overall impression. This still life, too, can be classified within this group of works. The depiction of the colourful fruit is to be understood less in iconographic terms than as a sensuous evocation of the pleasure and joy of fine food.